Tease
by forevergreys17
Summary: Abandoned by her girlfriend, Callie Torres finds herself lost & in need of a change. Her friends attempt to help her situation, causing her to visit a new salon & spa in downtown Seattle. Little did she know, in addition to her new blue streaks & shortened locks, her life would soon be changed—beginning with a fated encounter between herself and a stylist with piercing blue eyes.
1. Bad Day

**Chapter One: Bad Day**

 _ **November 6th (two weeks earlier**_ _)_

Callie could feel a smile tugging at her lips as she sat on the edge of the bed in an on-call room located on the surgical floor of Seattle Grace Hospital. Her eyes slowly made their way down the official document she held her hands before making their way up the figure of her girlfriend, Erica Hahn. "Erica! This is so amazing. I can't believe you didn't tell me that you even applied for this!" She was over the moon excited for her girlfriend of over a year. She had just been selected as the sole physician to receive the prestigious Carter Madison Grant that thousands of other doctors had also applied for. "This is literally such a big deal. You can help so many people who don't have access to a cardiac surgeon of your caliber. So, what does this mean? Do you know what you are going to tell them?"

"I didn't know I had to tell you absolutely everything I did, Callie." Erica was extremely annoyed because she genuinely wanted to celebrate her accomplishment on her own. She was also bothered by the fact that Callie seemed to think there was a choice here, "What do you mean 'what does this mean'? Nobody says no to the Carter Madison Grant."

Callie flinched at the bitterness of her girlfriend's tone and realized that if she had won, she would say no to the grant without question. There was no way she would uproot her life and move anywhere right now. She had a relationship, friends, and was slowly becoming one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the entire northwest—something she was so incredibly proud of. "You know I didn't mean it like that Erica. I am so incredibly excited for you… I just meant, what does that mean for us?"

"It means I'm moving to Africa for two years."

Just what Callie feared. Erica was going to be selfish and decide without even taking the time to think or have a conversation with Callie about all the options first. She would have to do her very best at a compromise to make this work. "Okay, if you want, I can talk to the chief and put in my two weeks' notice? He definitely isn't going to be happy having to fill a position in both cardiothoracic AND orthopedic surgery, but I'm sure he will find wonderful doctors to take our place."

"Callie… I'm going by myself. I don't want you to come with me." The truth is, Erica had applied for the grant just eight months earlier, a few months after meeting Callie, with the hopes that she could get out of Seattle as soon as possible. She had been planning on ending things with Callie for a while, but the sex was good when they happened to have it and she gave her someone to spend time with while she figured out her next move. She never felt like dealing with her intense emotions, though. The brunette also continually refused to come out to her family, which is something that bothered the heart surgeon more than she would like to admit. Besides that, fact, she just knew that Callie was going to end up cheating on her with Mark Sloan, her "best friend" with whom she previously had enough benefits to make a horny teenage boy uncomfortable. The Latina's bisexuality was something that had always bothered Erica to her core, and something she made very loud and clear from the get-go—you can't "kind of" be a lesbian.

"Wait, what?" Callie was so incredibly confused. She and Erica had been doing great lately. Sure, they'd had their rough patches, and she knew the taller blonde had been getting progressively distant the past few weeks, but she thought it was because work had been stressing her out a little extra recently. Even so, Callie couldn't imagine being without her.

"You heard me, Callie. I really don't want you to come to Africa with me."

"Okay, well I've never done the whole long distance relationship thing before, but we can write letters, video chat on Skype, and I can send care packages until you get back. Two years isn't that long, right?"

"No, Callie. You aren't understanding me." Callie could be so stubborn sometimes and didn't take a hint very easily. Erica knew she was just going to have to rip the Band-Aid off so that she could finish this conversation sooner rather than later and go check on her patients. "I don't want to be with you anymore. Not in Africa, not in Seattle, not anywhere. I'm going by myself because this is it for us. This is me breaking up with you…I don't know how to be any clearer than that. There's no gray area here."

"Wait, What?" She was extremely confused because there had been no indication that Erica would end things. "Where is this even coming from? How does this fix anything?" Callie felt like her entire world was spinning off its axis.

"This should've happened a long time ago, Callie. I never should've gotten involved with someone from work. It's messy and unprofessional." Erica remained impassive the entire time she spoke to make sure the brunette knew she wasn't playing games this time. She smirked and decided to take the opportunity to land a low blow while she had it. "You should be happy anyway. This gives you the opportunity to fuck around with your on-call room manwhore as much as you want. You know, since you still can't decide whether you're a lesbian or not."

Tears rimmed chocolate brown eyes as Callie swallowed past the lump in her throat and struggled to meet the eyes of the woman standing right in front of her. Before she could say anything more, the door opened. There stood Mark Sloan, Callie's best friend, and the most recent topic of conversation.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, Torres! I didn't mean to interrupt, I was just coming to take a quick nap and I—wait, are you crying? What's wrong?" Mark frowned at the sight of his best friend looking completely broken on the edge of the bed. He immediately sat down and pulled her into his embrace as he stared up at a pair of rolling ice cold blue eyes. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Erica rolled her eyes again. She didn't have time to put up with this. She had post-ops to check up on and a brand-new life to plan. "That's none of your business, Sloan."

"If you hurt her I swear I will— "

"Do what?" Erica challenged Mark. "You and I both know you aren't going to do anything to me. She's your problem now."

"Callie isn't a problem. She has never been and she never will be. If you can't see that, then that's your problem." Mark hated the woman standing in front of him. His friend used to be a fiery Latina with so much confidence. A complete and total badass. She always shined wherever she was, no matter what she was doing. Ever since she had met Erica, however, that had changed. She diluted her personality to make Erica happy, and he hated himself for standing by and just watching it happen. At his words, the resentful blonde merely smirked and moved toward the door—slamming it shut behind her.

When the door slammed, Mark felt Callie shudder before breaking down in his arms. He held her close and until she let it all out. "Why don't I get you home, Cal?"

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie didn't know that was going to be the last time she ever saw the blonde until Mark took her back home to the townhouse she had shared with Erica for much of the past eight months—everything was gone. She had taken all the furniture she had purchased for their home as well as all her clothes and belongings. All that was left in the shell of a home were pictures of them together, Callie's kitchen appliances and personal belongings.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight? I really don't mind." Mark really didn't want to leave her alone.

"No, I'm fine Mark. I honestly just want to be alone right now." Callie was planning on drinking an entire bottle of wine and trying to forget the God-awful day she was having. "Please tell the Chief I'm going to take my sick days now. I don't care how many I have, I want all of them."

"You got it, Torres. Call if you need me, okay? No matter the time I will be here in five minutes." Mark had never seen Callie like this, not even after her divorce when that dumbass O'Malley cheated on her.

Callie gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Mark." She turned to go thei— _her_ bedroom after grabbing a bottle of wine and a corkscrew from her wine rack. She didn't even know if Mark had left yet or not, but she didn't care. She flinched after seeing the bedroom just as empty as it was when she first got home and continued walking through to the bathroom. She opened the bottle of wine and took a drink straight from the bottle before she placed it on the ground, turned the shower on, and began taking off her clothes. She got in the shower and immediately sat on the floor, resting her head on the cool glass door. It was there that she watched the water dance across the glass, crying until the tears would no longer flow. When they finally stopped, all she could think about was what the hell she was going to do.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

 _ **November 20th (present day)**_

The loud cadence of a drum echoed through the quiet, barren townhouse and tore Callie Torres out of her thoughts. She registered that the sound was coming from her cell phone across the room. She rolled her eyes as she immediately recognized the chorus of Queen's "Best Friend" currently filling the silence in the room and let out a small smile. She remembered the day Mark had set it as the ringtone for his contact. He had accompanied it with a ridiculous selfie, just for annoying the shit out of Callie every time he called her phone. She sat through two rounds of the chorus before the call automatically went to voicemail, joining the multitude of other calls and texts she has ignored the past two weeks, none of which were from Erica.

 _Had it only been two weeks?_

To Callie, it felt like a lifetime since Erica had left her. She and the cardiothoracic surgeon had a bumpy relationship, and Erica tended to fight with the brunette a lot, but for the most part, she had thought they were good together. She knew Mark and her other friends from the hospital were only trying to help, but Callie couldn't face anybody right now. What on earth was she going to do? There was no way in hell she could stay in this house. That was just about the only thing she knew for sure. It was like the forgotten corpse of her deceased relationship, and she wanted to bury it.

 _Yikes_.

Callie met her reflection in the mirror only to see a mere shell of her former self. She saw no confidence, no playfulness, and no fight. She looked like complete and utter shit. Her long raven locks were piled up in a messy bun that had gone untouched for three days, she had black circles under her eyes that felt heavy from lack of sleep, and to top it all off, she thought her face might be permanently red and swollen from all the crying she had been doing. Callie heard a few soft thumps from the living room but thought she was imagining things, so she continued to examine her appearance in the mirror.

"HEY TORRES!"

The soft thumps quickly turned into thundering knocks and Callie realized someone was at the door.

"Let me in, it's fucking cold out here."

Callie rolled her eyes at her friend, Cristina Yang's, sympathy. She knew the woman had heard about Erica vanishing into thin air because she had desperately clung to the talented attending's bright and shiny cardiac cape since she had come to the hospital a few years prior. It was just like Cristina to ignore all the emotions that encompass a situation. "What are you doing here, Yang?"

"Sloan paid me to take the rest of the day off and come check on you since you're ignoring everyone." Cristina squeezed past Callie and made her way to the fridge to look around. She came back with an opened beer. "What are you doing hanging out in your PJ's anyway? Don't you have a job?"

"I'm off until next week."

"Fair enough." Cristina finally looked around the spacious townhouse and realized that it was empty. "Damn, Torres. So, it is true? You guys broke up? She flew away to Africa? I can't believe she just took everything." She may not admit it out loud, but she could tell that Callie was broken and as empty on the inside as the house. It was written all over her face.

"Yeah, it's all true..." Callie looked down at her feet. She hated talking about everything still, but she honestly was glad Cristina came over.

"So… you're just going to live in a house without furniture?" she was trying to lighten the mood and knew that Callie couldn't live like this much longer.

"No, I'm just going to sell this place. It isn't my home anymore, and I know I can't stay in it." The townhouse had been in the Torres family for years, and it had been in Callie's possession before she met Erica. After the blonde had seen it, she wanted to move in because of how beautiful the house was. It became their house. Callie felt judgmental eyes on her immediately. "I just need a radical change, okay?"

"That's kind of a bad drastic change, though. Hasn't this townhouse been under Torres rule for like ten years?" Cristina thought it was a little crazy to just sell such a nice house when she may decide she wants it later. "Why don't you just do what every other woman does after a breakup and cut all your hair off?"

Callie's eyes lit up. "OH, MY GOD YES! I'm going to get a haircut today. That would be the perfect way to make a radical change." Why didn't she think of this sooner? It's such a simple solution that could make her feel so much better. The reason quickly began creeping in nearly as fast as the excitement had. "Well, maybe I shouldn't do radical things right after a blonde woman has ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it, but—OH MY GOD!" She was too busy rambling to notice that Cristina had found a pair of scissors and took it upon herself to hack off a long strand of her hair. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU INSANE?"

Cristina just shrugged her shoulders and laughed. "You seemed like you needed a push, and this is your opportunity to seize the situation and make lemonade!"

That's it. Cristina officially has lost it. Callie had no clue what had gotten into Cristina, but she had the first twinge of excitement that she has had since Erica left two weeks ago. "Fuck it, keep cutting."

Cristina paused a moment before she let out a burst of laughter. "What is so funny, Yang?"

"It's just… I operate on people nearly every day. So, when you said that, I had a mild internal freak out before I realized that you were talking about your hair. I generally don't have people tell me to keep cutting on them." She couldn't contain it and busted into another fit of laughter. It even caused Callie to let out a little giggle before it all dissipated into a comfortable silence.

Cristina continued to cut Callie's hair. "Are you almost finished?" Callie was getting impatient and wanted to see her new hairdo.

"Yup, go ahead and look." Cristina handed Callie a mirror.

Callie lifted the handheld mirror and saw what used to be her long, beautiful hair at four or five different, chopped lengths. "No. No. No. This is not what I wanted at all! Cristina, I look injured." The other woman had disappeared back into the refrigerator for another beer and was ignoring Callie. "LOOK AT MY HAIR." All she heard was Cristina cackling from the kitchen. "Do you even cut hair?"

"Yeahhhh, I sort of can't believe you let me do that."

"CRISTINA!"

"OKAY, damn. We'll go to the mall and get it fixed." The taller woman could really kick Cristina's ass if she wanted to.

"Thank God. I'm going to go take a shower before we head out, I feel gross." Callie started walking towards her bedroom to take a shower.

"Um…Torres?" Cristina smirked when Callie turned to look at her in the doorway. "You might want to wear a hat."

Callie glared at Cristina and flipped her off before spinning around and heading towards the bedroom again. While the water was heating up, she searched through the piles of her clothes that had been left on the floor after Erica fled Seattle with all the furniture. After a few minutes of exploring through the piles of clothes, she really needed to go through all her shit and downsize a little, she finally found what she was looking for—her most comfortable pair of skinny jeans, black leather jacket, a deep red V-neck, and an old charcoal gray slouch beanie.

"Torres, hurry up! I've got places to be."

Callie was going to be so proud of herself if she didn't kill Cristina Yang today. _Just think of the poor, sickly heart patients Callie. Rise above._

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

"Oh, my god. I just had the most brilliant idea!" Cristina's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she set her sights on Norman's, a furniture store located on the first floor of downtown Seattle's most popular mall. "I can rent the townhouse from you!" This is so perfect. She would have an entire house to herself, finally escape Meredith's awful frat house, and get some alone time with Owen outside of his trailer. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of this sooner. Cristina loved her best friend and person, Meredith Grey, but she took all the hospital surgical strays and brought them back to her gigantic house. She loved her boyfriend, Owen Hunt, too, but his trailer in the woods? Not so much. This was her opportunity. "That way, if you ever happen to change your mind and decide you do want the house, you won't have to jump through a thousand hoops to get it."

Callie mulled over the thought of Cristina renting the townhouse. Her parents and trust fund had enough money for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life, even if she didn't have a job, but the Latina didn't like people knowing about her financial situation and bringing in a little extra cash just in case never hurt anyone. This would grant her the opportunity to start with a clean slate as quickly as possible. "I think that's a great idea, Cristina."

The furniture store was huge. It easily took up the space of an entire department store, and it was taking them forever to shop the entire thing. Callie was getting irritated because she just wanted to hurry up and go to a salon. Looking at all the furniture was a sad reminder that she was basically starting her life over. She needed a place to live, furniture to put in that place, and to move on from the blonde surgeon that had yet to leave both her heart and mind. Callie was ripped out of her thoughts by Cristina's bizarre way of furniture shopping.

Callie watched as Cristina tapped a man in a _Norman's Furniture_ shirt on the shoulder. "Can I help you find anything ma'am?" the man said when he turned around.

"I will take that and that." She pointed at the two staged rooms in front of her.

"The couch and the bed?" the man looked incredibly confused.

"No, those two rooms. All of it. How much?"

Callie was sure his eyes were going to pop out of his head. "Um. I'll have to go check with my boss. I'll be right back."

Seeing her reflection in a full-length mirror that was set up in the new bedroom suit Cristina was apparently buying, Callie visibly jumped. "I thought we were going to a hair salon."

"Next. We are doing me now." Cristina was focused on how she was going to get all this furniture back to the townhouse as soon as possible. "I need to get all this stuff back to the townhouse today so that I don't have to worry about it on a day I actually have to work."

"I have an idea!" Callie got excited. "We should throw you a housewarming party!" this would be the perfect solution to getting her mind off her ex. She loved planning parties ever since she was in high school and helped her mother, Lucia Torres, plan her elegant A-list functions.

Cristina knew as soon as she saw the brunette's face light up, there was no way she could say no. She could tell Callie needed this distraction. "Ooh, a housewarming party. That's a good idea. I'll text everybody and tell them to be there at eight tonight."

The salesperson returned to where the two women were standing carrying a list of everything she had wanted to buy and the prices that went with them. "Okay ma'am, if you want these two rooms they will be a little under $20,000."

"Great. Do you do same day delivery?" Cristina was hoping they would so she didn't have to do any heavy lifting.

"Yes ma'am, but it is also kind of expensive."

"That's fine. Here's my card, take care of it for me please." Cristina waited until the man returned with her card to give him the address and a spare key to the house so that everything would be waiting for them when they got back. "It was nice doing business with you!"

"I think you made that man's entire year, Yang." Callie was thinking about it as they made their way out of _Norman's_ , and began ascending the escalator. He probably just made killer commission on that.

"I just needed to fill the empty space, and those rooms were nice enough." Cristina shrugged. She didn't think it was a very big deal. "Oh, my god. Frozen yogurt! I'm so getting some of that. Do you want any?"

"Ugh no. I haven't had much of an appetite all week." Callie's stomach churned at the thought of eating a sweet treat after not eating much of anything the past few weeks. She knew she had to get it together, she had lost about eight pounds in two weeks, which she knew wasn't safe.

"I just needed something to focus on while I have to suffer through you getting your haircut."

Callie shook her head at Cristina as they made their way to a mall directory to find a salon. She ran her eyes up and down the columns until she found a section entitled, _Beauty, Salons, & Health._ There were about five salons to choose from, but the name of one salon caught her eye. It was written in pink and had _NEW!_ written inside a thought bubble by the name. "Alright, I found one, let's go."

"Torres. You have got to be kidding me." Cristina couldn't believe Callie had picked a salon with a bright pink, marquee style sign that said _Tease: Salon & Spa. "_Who names their salon _Tease_? _"_

"Be nice, Cristina." If Callie was being honest, she was wondering the same thing. She had no ideas why, but she was extremely intrigued.

As the women walked toward the salon they noticed that most of the walls were left as dark, exposed brick and had accents of wood underneath it. It did not match the sign outside, but somehow it worked. When they walked underneath the door opening, they heard a faint chime go off and saw a petite brunette woman walking towards them. They stepped forward to a large front desk made from a beautiful dark barn wood and accented with stonework across the base and across the countertop. The name of the salon was written again on the front of the desk, but in a metallic silver color, featuring small golden butterflies cut out of metal to look like they were flying. It was simple, yet beautiful.

The woman, now settled behind the desk gave them a warm smile. "Hi, welcome to _Tease_. My name is Lexie. How may I help you today?"

"Is this what mall people do all day? Just mosey around, shop, and eat? Do they not have jobs?" Cristina was fascinated. She had been so busy the entire time they had been at the mall that she hadn't even noticed the people around them. "Look at that woman! All she's going to do is eat that pretzel."

Lexie looked at the woman with a confused expression. "Excuse me?"

"Please ignore her." Callie didn't know what Cristina was talking about. "Hi, I'm Callie Torres. I was wondering if you would have time to work me in for a haircut today… well, now actually. If possible."

"I'm sorry, miss. Our salon is by appointment only."

Callie looked up at the woman desperately. "Please. It's an emergency. You see, my friend over there, currently obsessed over the lady with her pretzel, thought it would be a great idea to butcher my hair today."

Lexie could tell this woman looked very tired. "I'll tell you what. Let me go to the back and ask my boss for you. I can't promise you anything, though."

"Thank you so much! That's fine." Callie thanked the woman as she began to walk away before she turned around, leaning her back against the front of the massive desk and looking outward into the mall. She noticed Cristina had found a chair in the front of the salon to sit and people watch as she ate her frozen yogurt. Callie chuckled to herself as she waited for the verdict on her hair.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona Robbins had finally finished pulling products from the shelves in the storage room of her salon. She began making her way past all the spa rooms towards the front of her shop when she was stopped dead in her tracks at the doorway between the back of the shop and the lobby that held the salon area and the manicure/pedicure stations. The blonde immediately backtracked and leaned against the wall, nearly dropping the box as her hands had become sweaty suddenly. She put the box down before peeking around the corner to see a smile that nearly made her weak at the knees. The mystery woman in front of her colleague and longtime friend, Lexie Grey, was easily the most beautiful woman Arizona had ever seen. Her caramel colored skin was almost entirely hidden underneath a pair of frayed skinny jeans that looked painted on curvy hips. She was also wearing a garnet V-neck top covered by a well-worn leather jacket. Arizona could tell why she was here, as she wore a distressed slouchy beanie that wasn't big enough to hide a few unequal pieces of raven colored hair. _Thank God for shitty haircuts._ She couldn't rip her eyes away from the Latina, and didn't realize that Lexie had left the front desk until the woman turned to face out towards the rest of the mall and Arizona was met face to face with an amused looking Lexie.

"Whatcha doin' boss?"

Arizona's eyes went wide. _Shit._ "Um. Nothing. I was just getting a few products from the back to stock the front shelves and I got sidetracked."

"I can see that." Lexie had watched as the blonde never took her eyes off the pretty woman up front until she was literally a foot from her. It had been a few years since Arizona had shown interest in anyone, so she was enjoying making her squirm a bit. "I have a question that might peak your interest in that case."

"I'll do it."

Lexie started laughing. "You don't even know what I'm going to ask!"

"She needs a haircut. I can see her mismatched ends from back here Lex."

"Humor me. I came back here to ask if you would be willing to accept a walk-in today. I know it's against policy, and we don't have any other stylists in this afternoon, but this is a hair emergency so I thought we could call one of them in."

"Yes, I will accept a walk in, but no need to call anybody because I'll be doing it myself." Arizona knew there was no way she was going to let anyone else get their hands on the brunette. "Give me five minutes to get my shit together and I'll be happy to fix her hair for her."

"You don't even cut hair anymore." Lexie playfully bantered with Arizona. She could tell the blonde woman was dying to meet the brunette that had her acting like a middle school girl in front of her first crush.

"I'm damn well going to cut hair today."

"Okay boss, I'll go shampoo and condition her hair for you so you can get your chin off the ground and wipe the drool from it."

"Thanks, Lexie. Do me a favor and try to do a little recon. Find out whatever you can." Arizona found herself wanting to know everything she could find out about the woman. "I owe you one!" Arizona watched Lexie walk toward the front of the shop before she leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. _Get it together, Robbins._

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie had been humming along to the music playing over the speakers when she heard a now familiar, chirpy voice behind her. "You're in for a treat, Mrs. Torres! My boss doesn't normally allow walk-ins, but she made an exception today since we are a little slow this afternoon."

Callie hadn't heard anyone call her "Mrs." in years. "It's Ms. Torres, actually."

 _Score._ "Okay, Ms. Torres, right this way. I'm going to get you washed and conditioned while Arizona gets finished up in the back."

Callie sat down in the reclining salon chair and removed her beanie before leaning back. "Arizona?" That was an interesting name.

"My boss that I was telling you about—her name is Arizona."

"Oh! Okay, I'm sorry. I just thought you had a really interesting nickname for one of your co-workers." She was just as intrigued with the name of this woman as she was with the name of the salon itself.

"That wouldn't be the first time someone has asked about her name. The funny thing is, she is just as interesting as her name." Lexie knew that Arizona wanted Lexie to find out more about the woman, so she really needed to get the conversation flipped back around. She decided to make it about the task at hand first. "Let me know if this water gets too hot, Callie." She began slowly lathering coconut scented shampoo into the brunette's dark tresses before completely rinsing the soap from her hair.

"It feels wonderful to me. I can't remember the last time I got a haircut, my ex preferred my hair long so even though I had always wanted to, I never really put much thought into actually getting it cut." Callie frowned, she had forgotten about that. There were a lot of things that she did for Erica.

 _Damn, I deserve a raise. Now to find out how gay she is on a scale of one to gay._ "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like he was a real tool." Lexie knew this was a 50/50 shot to get some information without asking Callie if she dated women. She began deep conditioning her hair so that it would be extra soft after Arizona dried it for her.

"She was, kind of." Callie chose to be casual about the change in pronoun, just in case the woman wasn't exactly down with the rainbow. Thinking to herself, she had never actually admitted it out loud, but her ex-girlfriend had always been selfish and very controlling most of the time. She couldn't remember the last time she had even done something for herself.

 _Salon gossip prevails, once again._ Lexie chose not to make a big deal out of the pronoun change, as she wasn't sure if it was something Callie was comfortable with discussing. She squeezed some of the extra water from the woman's hair and wrapped it up in a towel she had just taken out of the warmer. "Alright. I'm all done here. I'm going to move you over to get comfortable in station number three. The best stylist we have to offer will be with you in just a moment."

"Thank you." Callie admired the workspace in front of her while she waited. Her eyes focused on a few very beautiful and detailed golden butterflies. She recognized them, as they very closely matched the metal butterflies she saw on the desk up front, except these were drawn on paper. There also were a few pictures of the same blonde, dimpled man scattered around the space. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, and in most of the photos, he was making an array of silly faces. One, however, he had a very serious expression in a military uniform. Callie noticed that he had very calming eyes and a big smile, she found it impossible to keep herself from smiling back. Callie's text tone went off, and she saw that Mark was asking if she was okay. She decided to respond to him later and begin the Google search for a decent apartment to move into.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona was silently chastising herself for her choice in wardrobe on this particular day. Normally, for business, they wore a flattering collared shirt made from a scrub material that wrapped around the waist very similarly to a robe, with black dress pants and heels. She hadn't planned on working out front today because she had a lot of inventory to manage, so instead, she was wearing a navy blue V-necked shirt with three quarter length sleeves that she had tucked into a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans. She had opted for the heels today though, so that was a plus. She could do this. _Come on, Robbins. You've got women lining up for you! You're hot._ Arizona glided across the room confidently, towards the woman waiting in her favorite salon station.

Callie had made it through a few web pages of apartment options on her phone when she felt someone walk up behind her and gently remove the warm towel from around her damp hair.

"Hey." Arizona spoke softly so she didn't startle the woman.

The calm and melodious voice filled the air, causing Callie to flash her gaze upward and meet a pair of shimmering ocean blue eyes. Callie was sure her heart had just skipped a beat. _Holy Shit._


	2. Crush

**Chapter Two: Crush**

Callie felt like time had stopped—she couldn't seem to make her words work the second her brown eyes met blue ones in the mirror. The most she could muster was a small grin, and she mentally chastised herself for not being able to get her shit together.

"Hey Cal? I'm going back to the food court, there are tons of people with these really big pretzels… so I'm going to get a pretzel." Callie was thankful that Cristina had broken her out of the reverie that she had been trapped in once the beautiful blonde woman had gotten her attention.

Arizona decided to use the Asian woman's outburst to break the silence that had overtaken them. "So, what can I do for you today, ma'am?"

 _Damn, I can think of a lot of things you could do for me._ Callie mentally berated herself and began shaking the thoughts from her head as quickly as they came. "I want something badass. A little dangerous… a little unpredictable."

The blonde laughed and cocked her head to the side. "Oh really? Do you have a picture of that by chance?"

Callie felt her entire body melting at the sweet-sounding laugh before she broke out into a big smile and shrugged her shoulders. "It's more of a feeling, actually."

"Okay, I can work with a feeling. How about I surprise you?" The blonde winked and raised an eyebrow at the brunette, silently challenging her.

Callie's breath hitched. She could've sworn the woman had said that rather seductively. _Come on, Torres. You_ _'re imagining things. Your longtime girlfriend just dumped you and fled the country. You're sad and haven't slept. This woman isn't flirting with you._

Arizona watched a thousand thoughts race through the brunette's mind. "Come on, I can feel how hard you're thinking. Just trust me?"

Callie had a feeling she couldn't place. It came from deep within her soul, but she knew there was just something about this woman. She found herself completely intrigued, and wanting to know more. Before Callie could think any further, she decided to just let go. "Okay. Surprise me."

Arizona worked in silence for a while, snipping around on Callie's hair and tearing strips of aluminum foil that she would be using a bit later. Callie broke the silence. "So, is this your husband?" The brunette knew she was being kind of intrusive, but she really wanted to know who the attractive, dimpled blonde man was that graced the station mirror.

Arizona let out a small, sad smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and Callie immediately regretted asking. "No, that is my brother, Tim." Callie was excited about the news before she saw the small wave of sadness coursing over the blonde woman's body. She immediately wanted to be the reason the woman smiled again. She decided not to press the topic further.

Arizona was thankful that the beautiful Latina didn't ask any other questions. It had been many years since he had died, but the pain and loss of her older brother was still too much for her to bear most of the time. She decided to change the subject before she got upset. "So, if you don't mind my asking…what on earth happened to your hair?"

"Well, long story short… I needed a radical change. My friend and colleague, Cristina, came over this morning and suggested that I get a haircut, before taking it upon herself to do so." Callie left out the part about being broken up with and abandoned that caused the need for radical change so that the woman didn't feel sorry for her. She had gotten enough sympathy lately. "As you can see, she doesn't need to quit her day job, because she has no idea how to cut hair."

Arizona chuckled. She found herself wondering what would prompt this woman to want a radical change. "Are you okay with highlights? I think I have the perfect idea for your radical change."

"I'm fine with that. As long as you surprise me."

The two women fell into another comfortable silence as Arizona worked her way through the Latina's hair with the aluminum foil. She carefully brushed the strong-smelling dye she had mixed together to accent the dark locks of the Latina woman sitting in front of her. "Okay, you have to sit for thirty minutes so the color can set." Arizona noticed that the woman didn't have a book with her and had an idea she could use to get to know her a little bit better. "Would you like a manicure by chance? I know you've had kind of a rough day, and manicures always make me feel better." The blonde needed to get her hands on this woman in some way, and this was as good an excuse as any.

Callie mulled the thought over in her head for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had a manicure. "If it isn't too much trouble, I would love that."

Arizona smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Of course, it is no trouble at all." She wanted to treat this woman like a queen. It had been so long since she had been with another woman, let alone show interest in one, and for some reason this woman, in particular, gave her butterflies. Arizona led Callie towards the back of the shop and shows her to the nail station. "What color would you like?"

Callie raised her eyebrow playfully. "I still expect to be surprised."

"Oh, I can definitely do that, I am wonderful at surprises"

Callie watched as the blonde woman made her way effortlessly around the area, gathering all the supplies she needed to perform a manicure. She took this opportunity to check out the blonde since she was preoccupied. Brown eyes ran their way up and down the woman's petite frame. She was beautiful. Her blonde locks curled softly around the sides of her face in a shoulder length bob. Her bangs were braided back to the side and secured with a clip that matched the golden butterflies on the front desk of the shop. She wore a form fitting blue shirt with a plunging neckline, tucked into a pair of skin-tight, high-waisted jeans, and to top it off… she was just casually walking around in heels. Trying to kill Callie. _Stop it. She_ _'s probably not even gay._ Callie is brought out of her thoughts by a loud cough. She looked up and met a playful smirk. _Shit. She saw you staring. Nice going Torres._

"I asked what you did for a living." Arizona giggled.

"Oh, um… sorry. I'm actually a doctor at a local hospital." Callie could feel her entire face turning red.

"Seriously? That's amazing!" The blonde began imagining a certain Latina donned in scrubs and a lab coat and could feel her own face turning red at the thought. "You know, I was almost a doctor." Arizona sat down in front of Callie and gently took her hand in her own as she prepared to work on her nails.

"Almost?"

"Yeah. About eight years ago I had just finished with my first year of medical school at Johns Hopkins University, when I had to transfer back home immediately due to a family emergency…after what happened, I just never went back, and here I am." Callie could see the same sad look from before. The two women sat in a comfortable silence for a while as Arizona continued to paint Callie's nails. "Why did you decide to be a doctor?"

A small smile graced Callie's lips and she closed her eyes for a moment in thought. "Years ago, I decided I needed a change of pace from the life I was living in Miami. I felt led to join the Peace Corps, so I did. I was sent to Botswana, and encountered hundreds of people who desperately needed healthcare, but were unable to receive it in their home country. It changed my life in so many ways for the better. After I returned stateside, I applied to medical school at the University of Miami. The next thing I knew, I fell in love with surgery, got into one of the top surgical programs in the country at Seattle Grace Hospital, here in Seattle, and never looked back."

Arizona was nearly speechless. This woman not only had beauty and intelligence, but a heart of gold. She was not only a doctor, but a surgeon at that. She knew in that moment that she had to build up enough courage to go out on a limb and really get to know this woman. She met Callie's eyes in the mirror and gave her a shy smile.

"You still aren't done?" The voice of Cristina Yang made both women jump. Callie hoped that Cristina hadn't caught them staring as she came up. "You've been here forever already." She carried a pretzel in one hand and a large bag in the other that looked to be filled with more pretzels.

"Go ahead and leave Cristina, I'll just get Mark to come get me."

Arizona tried to hide the slump in her shoulders at the mention of this 'Mark' guy. Cristina didn't wait around for Callie to change her mind—she left even quicker than she came. The Latina turned her gaze back to the blonde, but could tell something in her demeanor had changed.

"Alright, I'm all done here. Let's go get your hair finished so you can get back to the rest of your day."

Looking down at her nails, deep brown eyes widened in amazement as they danced across the hues of deep purples, blues, and reds shining from her nails. When she held her hands together from left to right, there was an intricate EKG reading that led right into a very beautiful and accurate representation of an anatomical heart that landed on the middle finger of her right hand. The arteries running from the heart spilled over, seemingly melting back into an EKG on her ring and pinky fingers of her right hand. It was genuinely the most beautiful and intricate design she had ever seen painted on nails before. "This is absolutely amazing. You did such a beautiful job! I can't wait for all my coworkers to see these."

Arizona smiled and gestured towards the chair in station three once again so that she could finish up Callie's hair. She gently removed all of the aluminum foil strips from the brunette's hair to reveal deep blue streaks throughout a now shoulder length bob. The blonde began blow-drying it with a rounded brush until there were loose and effortless curls throughout. When she was finished, she sprayed a little bit of hairspray to set it, and slowly ran her fingers through the curls for more of her own benefit than a professional one. The last thing she did was give it a little tease for some flare. "So, what do you think? Is it badass enough for you, doctor?"

Callie smiled. "It is absolutely perfect."

"I'm glad you like it. I'm going to go to the back and wash the dye from my hands really quick, but I will meet you at the desk out front."

Callie unashamedly watched the woman walk away in her slick black heels that did amazing things to her ass in those skinny jeans she wore. After the woman rounded the corner to the back of the shop and was out of sight, she remembered that she didn't have a way back to the townhouse and quickly pulled out her phone, hitting the first number on speed dial. "MARK! I need your help. Can you come pick me up at the mall? I'm at a salon/spa called _Tease_ on the 3rd level." Callie rolled her eyes. "Yes, near the food court, and no I'm not going to buy you dinner. You know we have a big night that we have to be hungry for."

Arizona had been walking towards the front before she stopped dead in her tracks at the playful banter going on between the beautiful Latina and Mark on the phone. Mark wasn't even a good name. He sounds like a stock broker or something. _Are you jealous? Oh my god. You don't even know this woman. Why are you jealous?_ She back tracked and stood behind the wall in the same position as when she first saw the Latina earlier that day. She was kicking herself for having a school girl crush on yet another straight girl when she heard a loud laugh.

"I swear to God, Mark. If you do not come pick me up and I end up walking across Seattle, I'm demoting you from best friend status and promoting Cristina." He knew she was bluffing, but she had to try anyway. "Whatever, you're not that great. I'll see you soon." _OH!_ Callie quickly scanned the room before lowering her voice to a whisper. "…and Mark, there's a gorgeous woman here. I am painfully aware of that fact, and you better not make a single snarky comment if you get here before I leave this shop. Got it? If you do, I swear I will make sure the chief gives you the shittiest interns that Seattle Grace has to offer for the next three months."

Arizona smiled to herself and waited a few more minutes before she walked out front—more confidently now than before. She made her way behind the desk up front and was greeted by a breathtaking smile.

"So, what do I owe you for my new nails and haircut?"

The blonde sent her a wink and waved it off with her hand. "They're both on the house."

Callie just stared blankly at the woman. She had just spent the last hour and a half doing her hair and nails. "Are you sure? That was a lot of time and work."

"I'm positive. It's not that often that my salon gets graced with a woman as beautiful as yourself."

"Thank you." Callie blushed and smiled back at the blonde, silently wondering exactly what that meant. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name before…?"

The blonde reached her hand towards the brunette for a handshake. "My name is Arizona—Arizona Robbins."

The Latina took her hand and shook it for a moment. "It's very nice to officially meet you Arizona. My name is Callie Torres."

"Well, Callie Torres," Arizona pulled out a matte black business card and began writing on the back with a silver sharpie. "here's my business card if you are ever in need of another haircut or manicure touchup. Also, I put my cell phone number on the back in case you are curious about any of my other services." Arizona winked at the beautiful woman in front of her.

"ATTA GIRL TORRES!" A very deep voice boomed from just outside of the shop.

Callie groaned and rolled her eyes. She knew the drive from Mark's apartment took ten minutes' tops, but she was still hoping she would have at least been outside of the salon before her best friend made it into the mall. "MARK. WHAT THE HELL DID I TELL YOU ON THE PHONE?"

Arizona eyed the man standing in the front of the store. He looked to be in his early thirties. He was tall, muscular, and very handsome, with stubble lining his cheeks and the biggest shit eating grin she had ever seen. _Yup. He definitely looks like a Mark._

"Oh, come on Cal, you never let me have any fun." Mark made his way to the front desk, slightly leaning on it before sticking out his hand and winking. "Doctor Sloan, Mark Sloan. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

Arizona looked incredulously up at the man, and was about to make a snarky comment back at him when Callie spoke.

"You don't, Mark." Callie needed to get him out of the shop before he embarrassed her even more. She looked towards Arizona. "I'm sorry, this arrogant ass is my ride, and it's already after six, so we've got to go unfortunately." Callie held up the business card and gestured to her hair. "Thank you so much for this. I sincerely hope to talk to you again soon." With that, Callie made her way out of the salon, unabashedly putting an extra sway on her hips.

Arizona watched speechlessly as Callie made her way out of the salon before she plopped down in the chair behind her desk, immediately placing her head in her hands and groaning. "In case you're curious about any of my other services?" Arizona said in a singsong voice, mocking her own lame one liner. _What the hell, Robbins? Why didn't you just rip her clothes off and take her on the desk while you were at it?_

Lexie came out from the back and saw her boss lightly banging her head against the front desk. She laughed. "Well, how'd it go?"

Arizona deadpanned. "You saw that woman, Lex. How do you think it went?" She replayed the last five minutes in her head before groaning again. "I told her to call me if she wanted to know about any of my other services… and then winked at her. What am I? Fifteen? This is mortifying. I am Arizona Robbins. I've got women lining up for me because I'm hot!"

"Well then, why don't you just wait for her to call you about your other services, hottie?" Lexie couldn't control her laughter at the expense of her boss.

"This isn't funny, Lex. I've got to go out with this girl. I have this feeling… I can't place it, but I just know she's something special."

"I think the kids call that a crush these days, Zona."

Arizona shot Lexie a very loud 'go to hell' look, but smiled to herself and rolled a pen cap between her lips as she thought it over. A crush indeed it was, because Arizona knew she most definitely had to get to know this Doctor Callie Torres.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie and Mark just made it to his Audi Coupe, and both buckled their seatbelts. Surprisingly, Mark managed to keep comments to himself the entire walk to the car, but Callie knew that the onslaught was coming.

"So, Torres…" Mark smirked slyly at Callie.

"No. We are not talking about it Mark. Maybe later once there is lots of alcohol in my system, but not right now." Callie shot him a serious look, making sure he knew she was not kidding.

"Fine. Later though. So, what do we have to do for this thing anyway?"

"I honestly don't know. I guess I'll have to ask Cristina and find out."

"Sounds good. I just want to make sure I don't have to do any hard work or heavy lifting, I put my quota in at the hospital today and made the world a better and more beautiful place."

Callie rolled her eyes at Mark. She was sure he was immeasurably exhausted from the two breast implant surgeries he had scheduled for today. "Oh yeah, I can see the headlines now. 'Mark Sloan—changing the world, one boob job at a time.'" Callie looked out the window as they drove through downtown Seattle—her mind slowly began running in circles, and the center of all her thoughts just so happened to have bright blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She smiled to herself at the thought of Arizona before Mark broke her out of her musing.

"Torres, will you please stop daydreaming about that blonde from the mall and answer my question already. I've asked you where I need to drop you off three times already." Mark shot her a knowing grin because he knew exactly who occupied the brunette's thoughts. He was thankful for the blonde because the light that has been missing from Callie's eyes for a long time returned while she was at the salon.

"Just drop me off at the townhouse so I can figure out what there is left to do. You can head back over once the party has started."

"It's a good thing that's where I decided to turn while you were ignoring me. We're already here." Mark unlocked the door for Callie before adding. "By the way, your hair? It is hot."

Callie turned back at him before getting out of his car and throwing him a smirk as she began lightly teasing her hair. "Right? I'll see you in a little while Mark. Don't be late!"

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Once Callie walked in the townhouse, she let out a breath of relief because it looked absolutely nothing like it did when she and Erica had lived here together. She didn't feel like she was slowly suffocating while she was in the house, for the first time since Erica had taken all her stuff and left. All the furniture Cristina purchased had been delivered and set up, and surprisingly there were a few tables filled with enough food for their group of friends from the hospital that would be coming to the get together later in the night.

"Callie, is that you? We need booze!" Cristina's voice carried from somewhere inside the townhouse.

Callie chuckled to herself and yelled from just inside the front door "Okay, I'll run by Joe's and pick up whatever you need." Joe's was what they called the _Emerald City Bar_ , located directly across the street from the hospital in which all their friends worked. They frequented so often, they became good friends with the bartender Joe and his boyfriend, Walter, over the years.

"The list is on the table in the foyer!"

Callie's attention turns toward the small table against the back wall of the entrance to the townhouse and notices what can only be described as a small stack of paper. _Surely to God that isn't all alcohol._ She picks up the papers and begins flipping through them. Callie knew that Cristina and her best friend Meredith Grey could put away tequila like nobody's business, so she figured that she would have her hands full picking up tequila alone, but this was ridiculous. Who needs two full cases of tequila? Not to mention all the other things she had to pick up. "Can I take Owen's truck to pick all this up so I don't have to make half a dozen trips between here and Joe's in my thunderbird?"

"Yes, you can, I was just coming to suggest that you take my truck anyway." Owen Hunt made his way from the living room and handed Callie his keys. "I love your hair by the way. The blue looks good on you. Do you need any help at all with this?"

"No, I'm really okay. I'm looking forward to having a little alone time to think." Callie smiled at Owen before making her way back out the door and heading towards the black truck waiting in the driveway.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The drive to Joe's was peaceful for Callie. The townhouse was just outside of town, so she decided to take the long way. She made her way through curving backroads that led back to the civilization of the city. Halfway there, it began softly raining, not unusual for Seattle, but on this night, it felt different. Today was just what Callie needed to begin coming out of the slump she had been in. She had changed her look, gotten a new outlook, and was genuinely looking forward to going back to work. She pulled Owen's truck into the back of the bar so that she could easily get the boxes into the bed, and made her way around the building to the short brick alleyway leading to the nearly hidden bar.

Upon her entrance, she noticed the burly man in the flannel shirt behind the bar with a towel haphazardly thrown over his shoulder. When the bell to the door went off, he looked up at smiled at her. "Hey Callie! Long time no see. I love your hair. It suits you. How have you been?"

"Hey Joe. Thank you, and I'm making it. I actually came here, from what it looks like, to buy your entire stock for Cristina." Callie stated as she handed Joe the stack of papers with the many types of alcohol written across it.

"Why am I not surprised that this list includes so much Tequila?" Joe shook his head. He didn't see how such a small woman could put away so much alcohol without dying. Joe handed the list to one of his other bartenders to get ready and put by the back of the bar to load up later.

"That's exactly what I said." Callie laughed.

"Care for a drink on the house before you get all of this and head out? I feel like I haven't seen you in months." To be honest, Joe had been really worried about Callie, specifically in the last few weeks. He hadn't pried into her life, but he couldn't help but notice that all her colleagues that frequent the bar had been coming like normal, just without Callie.

"That sounds wonderful actually. Can I just get a glass of red wine?" A glass of wine wounds wonderful, and Callie knows Cristina Yang well enough to know the only thing on her alcohol list is liquor, so she better drink the wine now while she has the option.

Joe poured her a glass of wine before leaning across the bar top. "So, where's your other half?"

"That is a long story that will require lots of liquor in place of this wine, Joe. Maybe another time?" Callie knew that Joe wasn't prying. He was just very friendly to his customers, which is one of the many reasons why she and the other employees of Seattle Grace love coming to his bar so much. He genuinely enjoys listening to other people's problems as well as keeping the peace at his bar. However, Callie just isn't in the mood to talk about Erica right now. Today has been a wonderful day, and she doesn't want to ruin it with talk about her.

"Okay no worries, we are due for some quality time anyway. So, what brought on the new haircut?"

"I just wanted a radical change, and this is exactly what I had in mind." Callie smiled to herself as she thought about the blonde, yet again.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona hardly ever goes to bars anymore, but after a day like today she needed a drink. She had decided to explore around Seattle after she closed the salon for the night when she ran across this little bar almost hidden below a beautiful archway of bricks. She didn't mind going to bars alone at this point in her life because she had been single for years now, and she enjoyed it most of the time. Sure, she had her fair share of meaningless flings here and there, but she hadn't been with anybody since moving back to Seattle and hadn't really wanted to, until today.

Her thoughts danced back in time to earlier in the day—to a beautiful Latina that took her breath away simply by smiling. Arizona looked at her reflection in the mirror of the grungy bar bathroom. She wasn't conceited, but she knew that she was a pretty woman. She had blue eyes, curly blonde hair, and a smile normally accented by dimples that generally caused people to stop and stare… but for the life of her she felt like the Latina was out of her league. Callie wasn't just beautiful, she was sexy. Almost dirty hot. _You have got to get it together._

Arizona splashed a little cold water on her face and fixed her hair before taking a deep breath. She decided she was going to have one more drink and get ready to go home for the night, when she opened the door and went weak at the knees for the second time that day. Callie was at the bar, talking to the bartender who had just passed her a glass of red wine. Arizona was about to head over when she heard the bartender ask Callie a question.

"So, where's your other half?"

 _She has another half? Great. You gave your number and an offer for your "other services" to a woman who is already involved. Nice move, Robbins._ Arizona broke out of her thoughts and realized she had missed what Callie said back to his question. Arizona knew the only way she was going to find out whether Callie was involved or out of her league was to go up to bat and hope for the best.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

"What's got you smiling so big, Callie?" Joe sent her a knowing smile from across the bar top.

"Nothing yet, Joe. I'm working on it actually." She smiled up at him as she thought about the blonde. She had been wondering how long the appropriate amount of time was to wait before she called the number on the back of the business card Arizona had given her earlier that day when a familiar voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"I was planning on coming over here to buy the prettiest woman in the bar a drink, but it seems as if somebody already beat me to it." Arizona smiled big enough for her dimples to pop as Callie's brown eyes found her blue ones and she smiled back.


	3. You Had Me From Hello

**Chapter Three: You Had Me From Hello**

"Does that line work on all the women you run into at bars? It's good to see you again, Arizona." Callie let out a small laugh. She was more than happy to be in the same space as the blonde for the second time that day.

"I wouldn't know...there's only one woman I'm preoccupied with at the moment." Arizona slid onto the barstool directly next to her. "It's good to see you again as well, but I have to ask, are you following me, Doctor Torres?" She followed her statement with a playful wink to let Callie know she was only kidding.

"As much as you'd love that, unfortunately, no. I'm here on a liquor run that could give alcohol poisoning to half of Seattle." Callie chuckled to herself at the thought of the boys having to haul all the alcohol in because it is very likely Meredith and Cristina are already incapacitated. "Most of my friends and coworkers are helping throw a housewarming party for Cristina, the woman you met earlier today, and I drew the sober stick for a liquor run."

Before Arizona could answer, Joe cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you'd like a drink on the house? I'm about to go help my employees with Callie's order."

"A glass of white wine would be wonderful, thank you...?"

"Joe, my name is Joe." He held out his hand to shake Arizona's and gave her a lopsided smile.

"Wow, I'm sorry I'm so rude. Joe this is Arizona my, um...friend that cut my hair today. She works at a new salon at the mall downtown." Arizona couldn't help but smile as Callie's face turned red while she fumbled around with how to introduce her. "And Arizona this is Joe... he owns this bar and is a close friend of mine. My friends and I have frequented this place for years since it's right across the street from our hospital. "

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joe, I look forward to seeing you around." Arizona smiled up at the man. He towered above everyone, and from far away he was rather intimidating, but he had kind eyes and such a calm demeanor that he reminded her of a teddy bear.

"The pleasure is all mine! You two enjoy, I'll be in the back and if you need me just holler." He could tell that his presence was no longer needed, as the two women were barely able to keep their eyes off of one another. He then smirked and headed through the saloon doors toward the back of the bar.

"It has been so long since I've had a good glass of wine." Arizona moaned at the taste of the Moscato as it cascaded down the back of her throat.

Callie watched Arizona with wide eyes. The second she heard a moan escape the pink lips that were currently wrapped around the rim of a wine glass, she felt heat rush all the way down her body and imagined the way those lips would feel on her own… and on her neck…

"Callie?"

"Huh? What?"

"I asked if you were okay" Arizona looked smugly at the woman before her. "You look like you just saw a ghost. Your face is red, your eyes got big, and you're breathing a little faster than normal."

"Oh…yeah, I'm good." Callie blushed deeper because she knew she had been caught staring yet again. "So what brings you to Joe's?" Callie needed some time to collect herself, and she was curious why Arizona ended up at the very bar she frequented out of every bar there was in Seattle.

"After closing the salon this evening I thought I'd walk around and explore a bit. This city is a lot different than it was back when my family and I lived near here." Arizona had happy memories flood through her mind just thinking about the years her family spent in Washington. "I was just aimlessly walking when I stumbled upon this diamond in the rough… or should I say _Emerald_." Arizona's corny joke was met with a melodious laugh that she could listen to all day.

"Why did your family leave Washington?" The brunette hoped she wasn't being intrusive, but couldn't help but want to know more about the blonde that sat across from her.

"I'm a military brat, actually. My dad, the colonel, is a marine, through and through, and we never lived in the same city for more than a couple years growing up. He was stationed at a detachment in Oak Harbor, Washington, which is about two hours' northeast of here. When we were here, we stayed in between the two so that the colonel could get to work but my mom could take us to the city if she wanted to."

"Wow. I can't imagine moving around so much. Where all have you lived?"

"No, no, that's not how it works. You got two questions, now it's my turn for at least one." Arizona raised her eyebrow to entice the brunette a little before she continued, "You must've played twenty questions before, Callie."

The brunette took a sip of wine and nodded. "Okay, you're on. Hit me with your best question."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Seriously? My favorite color?" Callie chuckled. "That's the best question you could come up with?"

Arizona placed her hand on her chest and feigned outrage. "I'll have you know that you can tell a lot about a person based upon their favorite color. It's my go-to first question in twenty questions."

The smile that followed her statement, graced with those damn dimples, made Callie melt and smile back without even trying. "Okay, I'll bite— "

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

Callie's breath hitched at the low tone taken by the woman in front of her and she continued before she lost all of her shit in the bar. "I mean, I'll answer the important question. My favorite color is red."

"See? You've answered one question and I know a multitude of things about you already Dr. Torres."

"Like what?"

"It shows that you're courageous, intelligent, and confident. Other people are drawn to you because you radiate such a positive light and have a bold sense of energy. You are ambitious and competitive but have the respect of everyone around you. You're a hard worker, you're spontaneous, and you have a thirst for anything that will give you an adrenaline rush much like the OR." Arizona rubbed her chin. "It's also the color of love, which means as a lover you're passionate, physical, and loyal. When you love, you love with reckless abandon and with your whole heart. You are a complete and total badass that lives life to the fullest."

"You got all that out of my favorite color?"

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "I told you, it's the best first question."

Callie thought for a minute. Red symbolizes a lot of those things, and coincidentally most of them were fairly accurate. "Okay, my turn. What's YOUR favorite color?"

Arizona grinned. "It's blue."

Callie smiled, thinking about the new streaks in her hair. _Of course, it's blue. As blue as those eyes._ "Okay… let me think. You're calm, reliable, and trustworthy when things are chaotic. Much like the ocean, you're strong and confident on the surface, but there is even more beneath the surface. You crave harmony and peace, and you try to achieve that through caring and giving. As a lover, you're slow and passionate like waves on the beach, but if given the right circumstances can be rough and dangerous like a thunderstorm." Callie crossed her arms. "Close?"

 _God. What I wouldn't give to hear that word in a different context._ Arizona shook her head to rid the thoughts of a very naked Callie so she could continue the innocent game they had been playing. "I'm impressed. Okay, this is an important one… what's your favorite movie?"

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The two women, lost in one another, continued their game. After a while, they had lost count of the questions they had been asking and the glasses of wine they had been drinking when Callie's phone started ringing. Familiar to Callie, the cadence of Queen's "Best Friend" began blasting throughout the bar.

"I love this song! _Oooh, you make me live, whatever this world can give to me, it's you, you're all that I see_!" Arizona continued singing the song while Callie looked at her incredulously.

Callie was about to make a comment about Arizona's adorable sing along when she looked over at her phone and saw the time. It was almost eleven. She had been at the bar for over three hours. "SHIT." Callie finally picked up her phone. "Mark, I'm so sorry. I ran into Arizona at the bar and I completely lost track of time. I know. Cristina is probably pissed if she ran out of tequila."

Arizona felt bad for making Callie late and was about to mouth 'sorry' when she heard a different, and extremely drunk voice take Mark's place.

"Hello, Cristina. I know you need booze. I'm about to be on my way, and I'm sorry I'm running late." Callie sighed. "Yes, I'll buy you a surprise for being late. Okay, bye."

"Someone is cranky about their liquor."

Callie rolled her eyes. "If you only knew. I am so sorry to do this to you again, but I really have to go. I was supposed to be back a little before eight, but I lost track of time."

"I'm really sorry about that, I lost track of time too. Do you mind if I walk you out? It's getting kind of dark." Honestly, Arizona just needed a few more minutes with this intoxicating woman.

"Of course." Callie walked underneath the bar, through the same doors as Joe went in hours earlier. She led them out the back door, where Owen's truck was already loaded up with boxes upon boxes of liquor.

Arizona giggled. "I didn't peg you for the pick-up truck type."

"My favorite color didn't enlighten you on that one, huh?" Callie smiled. "It's not mine, this is Cristina's boyfriend's truck. My vehicle wouldn't be able to hold all of this in one trip."

"What do you drive?" Arizona cocked her head to the side and looked at Callie quizzically.

"No way. You are out of questions for today Miss Robbins. You'll just have to wait and find out about that one." Callie said as she leaned against the bed of the truck. "By the way, you are more than welcome to join me at this housewarming party. Keep in mind there are very angry drunk people there wanting more booze, but they are normally very kind doctors."

Arizona thought to herself. "As much as I'd love to, I have a very early appointment in the morning and I should really get home and try to get some sleep. Raincheck though?"

"Definitely."

Arizona bit her lip, partially at the beauty of the woman in front of her, and partially at deciding whether to ask what was on her mind or not.

"You look like you're thinking really hard about something over there."

"I want to ask you a question before you go… something that has been driving me crazy since I met you."

"Okay. What's that?"

"Are you single? I have been shamelessly flirting with you all day, and I would feel like an ass if you were involved. I just need to know before you leave."

Callie smiled at Arizona and closed a bit of the space between them. Arizona froze in her spot, her body stiffened more with each step Callie took. Once Callie was right in front of the blonde, she began leaning in. The smaller blonde's breath hitched as the brunette slowly glided by her mouth, stopping at her ear. Arizona could feel her breathing softly against it.

Callie licked her lips slowly before whispering. "I am extremely single." Arizona could hear the smile in her voice next as she seductively said, "and I am extremely curious about those other services you offer."

Arizona's entire body felt like it was on fire. The scorching heat made its way slowly down her body, just as the warmth of Callie's body left—even quicker than it came.

Once Callie was standing in front of Arizona yet again, she gave her a wink. "Goodbye, Arizona. I expect to talk to you very soon."

The blonde could only watch as the brunette, still wearing the tight frayed jeans from earlier in the day made her way to the driver side of the truck before she drove away. _Fuck I need a cold shower._ Never in her life had Arizona had a woman turn her on that much without even touching her. She leaned against the brick wall behind her and collected her thoughts and her racing libido as well as she could before she made her way to the front of the building. She looked up into the dark, Seattle sky as it began to drizzle, she pulled her coat closer around her neck and began walking back towards her apartment, thinking the entire walk there about Callie Torres.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

"It's about time you got here!"

Callie doesn't even have to look up because she could hear Mark Sloan's sarcasm halfway across Seattle. "Better late than never, and watch yourself before I drink all of your scotch."

"Careful Torres, those are fighting words."

"Oh, just shut up and help me unload this shit for Cristina."

"COME ON BOYS!" Mark yelled behind him. A few seconds later came Owen along with Derek Shepherd, Meredith's boyfriend.

"Hey, Callie. Are those blue streaks in your hair? I like them a lot."

"Thanks, Derek. I thought it was time for a change." From the looks of it, she might have quite a few changes on the horizon. "Hey guys, I'm going to go ahead inside if you're all good getting the boxes."

Owen spoke up while Derek and Mark were muscling through a box of tequila. "Of course, we've got it covered. Go have some fun."

Callie made her way through the house, saying hello to everyone she knew from the hospital. The attendings, residents and even a few interns were there, which was honestly surprising. Meredith and Cristina were dancing on the coffee table and singing into empty bottles of tequila. Callie quickly made her way through to the kitchen and found a bottle of wine and a cork to take out back with her. Mark had the fire going just as Callie had hoped, and she took a seat next to it to warm up a little while she poured herself a glass of wine. A few minutes later, the sliding door opened, and Mark took a seat on the other side of the fire pit with a tall glass of scotch.

"So, Mark, I have a proposition for you."

"I'll do whatever it is, as long as you tell me about this Arizona." He gives Callie a sly grin.

Callie chose to ignore him for the time being and asks her question. "Would you mind if I lived with you for a few weeks? Just until I find an apartment to live in. I think it'll be a great idea since you live right down the street from Joe's and the hospital." Callie continues before Sloan has a chance to answer. "And besides, isn't it easier to be single in pairs?"

"Come on, Cal. You know that you and your cooking are always welcome in my bachelor pad." Mark loves Callie's cooking even more than he loves Callie. "and besides, from the looks of it, you won't be single for too much longer."

Callie blushed and looked down at her glass of wine.

"Seriously Cal, I really want to know about this girl. She seemed to make you happy today… that's something we all have been trying to do for two weeks, and beyond that, I haven't seen you this happy in a really long time." He loves goading Callie, but he knows how insecure she is feeling after what happened with Erica and wants Callie to know that he is serious for once.

"I think I'm crazy, Mark. I've known this girl for, what? Less than eight hours?"

"Okay… and?"

"I shouldn't feel what I'm feeling."

"Well… what are you feeling?"

"Wait. I'm sorry. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? Mark Sloan? Seattle Grace Hospital's prized manwhore?" She didn't know what to think about her extremely masculine, sex-crazed, ass of a best friend talking feelings with her.

Mark rolled his eyes at Callie. "I'm being serious here Cal. What are you feeling about this girl?"

Callie took a deep breath. She knew once she said this out loud it became real. "I feel like we had an immediate connection, Mark. The second my eyes met hers in that mirror. The connection is so strong, I feel like I'm drawn to her in a way I've never experienced with someone before…it's almost like our souls know each other. I've never felt like this in my entire life, and it's scaring the hell out of me."

"Well, did you tell her this?"

"Of course not Mark! That's the first time I've even admitted it out loud to myself." Callie cursed silently to herself. "I literally have seen her twice today and haven't even called the number she gave me today." Callie knew the blonde woman was at the very least interested in her because they'd been flirting with each other for hours, but she doubted that the woman felt the strong connection that Callie did and she didn't want to be creepy.

"Then call her, Torres."

"Maybe I will."

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while, enjoying their drinks, watching the fire crackle, and listening to the music in the background. After a while, the music stopped and the party had come to an end.

"I'm gonna put the fire out and head home, Torres. Are you staying here tonight, or do you want to pack a bag and stay at my place?"

Callie stood up and stretched. "I think I'll just stay here tonight, Mark. I can pack all day tomorrow so that It'll all be finished before work on Monday. I'll walk you out though." The two of them began walking through the house and noticed everyone was gone, but Cristina and Meredith were passed out on opposite ends of the couch. Callie and Mark covered them up with a blanket before they went out on the front porch. "Drive safely, Mark."

"I will." Mark started to walk towards his car but decided to give Callie one more push before he left. "Hey, Torres?"

Callie turns back around to face Mark. "Yeah?"

"I get you're afraid to take a risk like this so soon after what happened, but don't you think if she's been on your mind all day that she may be worth taking the risk? Sure, it could end badly, but what if you met her for a reason today?"

"You think so?" Callie really felt like fate brought the blonde to her today.

"I really do, Cal. In my experience, if you don't take the chance you'll lose it. You've fought in the past, you've loved in the past, and you've lost in the past. I know how hard you have loved and how hard you have fallen, but you've kept walking tall. Regardless of what happens with this woman, you'll continue being Callie Torres, the most badass ortho surgeon in Washington, and my best friend." Mark smiled at Callie before starting to get into his Audi. "Take the risk, Torres. Call your girl."

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie was laying across her bed, tossing her phone between both of her hands. _You've just got to go for it._ Even though it was late, Callie decided she was going to call Arizona. She began typing a number on her phone, the number that was scrawled on the back of a matte black business card in silver sharpie earlier in the day, a number she had since memorized from looking at it so damn much. She took a deep breath and then hit the call button. She felt like the phone rang about a hundred times before she heard the dial tone stop, and heard a very familiar voice on the other line.

"Hello?"

Callie smiled before saying "Yes, this is Doctor Callie Torres speaking, I called to inquire about services you may offer?" Her ears were met by a chorus of laughter and she couldn't even remember the last time her face had hurt from smiling so much.

"Callie. Hi, I was hoping I'd hear from you tonight."


	4. She's My Kind of Rain

**Chapter Four: She's My Kind of Rain**

Callie Torres was strolling through the halls of Seattle Grace hospital with an extra bounce in her step. It had been so incredibly long since she had been so unabashedly happy and carefree, and she was absolutely loving it. As if right on cue, her text tone went off and she broke out in a big smile because she knew exactly who it was.

She and Arizona had been texting nearly all day, every day, and talking on the phone every single night for the past week. On top of that, the brunette had officially moved out of the townhouse and into Mark's apartment with him which has been like being in college again for both of them. And the best news of all—Callie finally has a plan to ask out the beautiful Arizona Robbins. She just had a few more post-ops to check up on, and one pre-op to brief and then she needed to find Mark and put her plan into motion.

"Hey, Aaron! How are you feeling?" Aaron was one of the star running backs for the Seattle Seahawks. He had torn his ACL and MCL in last Sunday's game, and his coach wanted the best orthopedic surgeon in Seattle to repair his knee so that he could do physical therapy as quickly as possible and be as good as new for next season.

"Dr. T! I'm feeling great. I think I could run a marathon today."

Callie laughed. "I'm sure that is most likely not going to happen with the shape your knee is in, superstar. Let's wait until you're at least post-op before signing up for any marathons."

"You know how I am, I always want to be doing something. So, what's got you so smiley today?"

"Well, if you must know… I'm about to sneak out of the hospital for my lunch break and go ask out this really pretty blonde."

"Ohhh shit! Get you some, Dr. T! You gotta come back here after you get back to the hospital and give me the dirty details." Aaron gave her a smirk and raised his eyebrow.

"You behave, and stay in this bed, got it? I'll be back in about an hour and we've got a date in OR 3." With that, Callie made her way down the hallway, towards the surgical board and found the man she was looking for.

"SLOAN!"

Mark spun around and looked scared. "Shit Torres. Don't do that to me. There's only one scenario where I'm okay with a woman yelling my name, but it definitely doesn't carry that tone."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Can you get your mind out of the gutter for two seconds, please? I need your help."

"Okay, Cal, but it'll cost ya," Mark smirked at her.

"Fine. I don't know what your deal is with spaghetti and meatballs, but I'll make some tomorrow night for you. Again" Mark asked Callie for spaghetti at least three times a day. You'd think the man would get tired of pasta after a while.

"My parents never cooked for me growing up, and the Shepherds didn't like pasta. I am a man with simple needs, Callie."

"Okay, anyway, I just need you to check up on my patients and make sure the interns don't fuck up my post-ops while I'm gone for the next hour."

"Where the hell are you going?"

"The mall. I plan on asking Arizona out finally."

"Atta girl, Torres! It's about time. You and Blondie have been texting nonstop for days." Mark could see the happiness radiating from his best friend, and he was so happy that she finally is taking a step forward. Erica was no longer dictating her happiness, even from across the world. He was so thankful.

"Thanks, Mark. I'll be back because I have a surgery scheduled for 1330. Just keep my patients safe for me, okay?"

"Will do Cal. Drive safe, and good luck!"

With that, Callie put her lab coat in the attending's lounge along with her stethoscope and scrub cap. She decided not to change and just wear her scrubs for time saving purposes. Arizona had no idea she was coming to the mall to see her. She couldn't wait to see the blonde, and hoped she was just as happy to see her too.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie parked her thunderbird in the parking garage connected to the mall and walked in through the food court. She had decided a few days ago that she would stop by and get a few cupcakes for Arizona as a pick me up. She knew from their first game of twenty questions that the blonde had a very big sweet tooth, among other things. Even though she knew her favorite dessert was doughnuts, she knew of a phenomenal bakery right off the food court of this mall and decided to spring for cupcakes instead. She also knew from their most recent conversations that the blonde was particularly busy this week.

"Hello ma'am, welcome to _Sweet Dreams,_ how may I help you today?"

Callie smiled politely at the teenage girl behind the counter, as she perused over the many different flavors of cupcakes in the display case. "Hi! I just need a few cupcakes. What are your best sellers?"

"Our top three best sellers are the Funfetti with your choice of icing, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes. My personal favorite is the cookie dough." She said with a smile.

"I will take those three then! They sound wonderful. As for the funfetti, can I get blue frosting?" She knew the blue would make the blonde smile. "Oh, and add a chocolate turtle cupcake in a separate box if you don't mind." Callie thought the least she could do was bring Mark back a cupcake for watching her patients while she ran her errands.

The Baker rang Callie up, put the cupcakes in a cute little box adorned with a large pink bow, and sent Callie on her way.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie walked towards the store front of _Tease_ , and the first thing she noticed was how busy it was. This was the first-time Callie had seen Arizona's salon/spa in full boom. There were stylists lined up at all the stations along the wall, four people doing nails in the back corner, and two people waxing in the opposite corner that she could see. The brunette rang the bell on the front desk and placed the bag of cupcakes on the floor while she waited.

"Coming!"

Callie bit her lip at the all too familiar voice of Arizona Robbins. _I swear to God. Torres, get your mind out of the gutter._ The Latina smiled brightly once she saw a flash of blonde rounding the corner in the back, braiding back her hair into a ponytail as she walked toward the front. She was wearing one of the sexiest uniforms Callie had ever seen.

"Well, hello there, Doctor Torres. For what do I owe the pleasure?" The blonde gives the brunette a slow gaze down her body before adding, "Those scrubs are a wonderful look, I must say."

"I could surely say the same about you." Callie winks. "Where's Lexie?" It was odd seeing the storefront without the very welcoming brunette.

"Today has been so crazy since we opened that neither of us has had time to eat, so Lexie is fighting the lunch crowd very quickly for us." Arizona was exhausted. She had gotten to the mall at 4 am to get everything for the busy day they had ahead. Everyone was getting spa treatments, haircuts, and mani/pedis before the holidays, and it was only going to get busier once Christmas rolls around.

Callie lifted the bag from the bakery with a smile. "Well then, it's a very good thing I decided that you might need a pick me up today."

"You didn't!" Arizona nearly squealed and grabbed the bag from Callie, taking the larger box out and opening it to find three beautiful cupcakes. The one that stood out to her had icing piped on in several hues of blue. "I take it this one is mine?"

"Yes, that one is definitely yours. It's funfetti because I know that's your favorite. I figured you and I could eat one now, and you could eat the other later."

"Can I please have the strawberry one…?"

 _Lord have mercy this woman is going to kill me._ Callie didn't understand how a woman could be both sexy as hell and adorable in a child-like way at the same time, but Arizona could. She laughed at the puppy dog face she was currently getting from the blonde. "You can have anything you want, Arizona."

"Oh really? I will definitely keep that in mind." Callie blushed, and Arizona began eating her blue funfetti cupcake. "So, what are you doing here? You look like you came straight from the hospital."

"I did, actually." Callie began unwrapping the cookie dough cupcake for herself. "I came here to grab a bite for lunch and ask out this really hot blonde I met recently."

"Is that so? And what exactly would you do if the hot blonde said yes?" Arizona threw a wink at Callie.

Callie blushed. "I would be very excited, not gonna lie."

"Well then, you better ask her."

"Would you want to go on a date with me? Say, tonight around 7?" Callie cocked her head to the side, smiling at the blonde, and hoping she would say yes.

All Callie got for a moment was a blinding smile in return, before Arizona nodded her head and said, "I would absolutely love to."

"Boss! We could use a hand back here!" A strained voice from the back exclaimed.

"Shit, I wish I had more time to talk, but I have a client scheduled in 15 minutes that I really need to prep for. They must be having trouble moving my table around."

"It's okay, I understand more than most when duty calls."

Arizona took her last bite of the cupcake before saying "Thank you so much, Callie. You have no idea how badly I needed this today."

"You're welcome," Callie said with a soft smile. "Hold on a second, you've got a little… something." The Latina slowly swiped her thumb across the blonde's bottom lip where there was a bit of blue frosting from the cupcake.

Arizona froze in her place, her gaze transfixed on Callie as she brought her thumb to her lips and licked it clean. "Mmm. Text me your address, and I will be on your doorstep at seven sharp. Bye Arizona." Callie said with a wink and began walking back into the mall, the smile never leaving her face.

The blonde could only watch in awe as the brunette turned and made her way outside of the salon—hips swaying the entire way. _._

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona eyed herself up and down in the mirror. It was already 6:50 pm and she still hadn't decided what she was going to wear on her first date with Callie. She had no idea what the two of them were doing, but Callie had told her earlier in the day that it would be semi-casual. After digging through her entire closet for what felt like the 15th time, she finally decided on her white washed skinny jeans, a comfy long sleeve V-neck blouse paired with a colorful infinity scarf and topped with an army green bomber jacket. She decided to wear her brown boots with the outfit to give her a bit of an edgy look, since she was hoping Callie would wear her leather jacket.

Arizona had just finished putting on mascara and teasing a little mousse through her curls when she heard a knock at the door. She glanced across her bathroom at the clock on the wall. 7:00 pm. Right on time. Taking one last look at herself, she took a deep breath and made her way to the front door.

She opened the door and went slightly weak at the knees once she took in the sight of the gorgeous Latina—she was clad in dark skinny jeans, her own pair of boots and a scarf topped with, much to Arizona's satisfaction, her mouthwateringly sexy leather jacket. To top it all off, she was holding a gorgeous bouquet of Seattle's most beautiful winter flowers and a breathtaking smile bordered by bright red lips that Arizona was dying to taste.

"You look so beautiful, Arizona. These are for you." The brunette handed the bouquet of flowers to the blonde.

Arizona blushed. "Thank you, these are almost as gorgeous as you." She smelled the sweet flowers that she now held. "Please, come in. I'm almost done getting ready, and I want to find a vase for these before we leave."

Callie walked in through the front door and began looking around while Arizona ran to get a vase for the flowers. The blonde's apartment had a very warm, farmhouse vibe which was very different to see in an apartment located in downtown Seattle. It had lots of rustic touches, but it was accented with modern elements that brought the two styles together seamlessly. There was a large electric fireplace in the corner, accented by a white rug and a navy blue sectional couch. There were candles everywhere, and wooden beams lining the ceiling throughout. The living room was open through to the kitchen, where there was a decent sized island and a breakfast nook that had an astonishing view of the city. She noticed a bedroom that was located to the right of the foyer, and one that mirrored it on the left side.

Arizona came out of the room to the left, fastening her earrings as she walked. "I'm ready to go if you are."

Callie held the front door open for her date. "Is it okay with you if we walk? It's beautiful outside tonight."

Arizona turned to lock her apartment door. "Of course. I love walking around the city at night."

Callie reached for Arizona's hand as they made their way down the sidewalk, grinning when Arizona intertwined their fingers together like they had been doing it for years.

"So, what do we have planned for tonight?" If Arizona was being honest, she didn't care if the brunette wanted to do the polar bear plunge and jump in the Puget Sound. She was just happy to finally be out with her instead of flirting with her through text message… it was so satisfying to be able to touch the brunette in some way.

Callie's smile gleamed. "Now, I can't ruin all the tricks I have up my sleeve. But I will say, I wanted to take you somewhere before dinner if that's okay. It's probably one of my favorite places in Seattle."

They walked hand in hand down the sidewalks of Seattle—the further they went the more Arizona leaned her body into Callie, for warmth among other reasons. After about half an hour, they ended up at a beautiful park. Callie led Arizona to a singular park bench that was situated in between two trees with a spectacular view of the Seattle skyline that was lit up below the dark sky. "This," Callie gestured around them, "is Kerry Park. I have spent many a day off with a good book and this exact park bench."

"You know, when we lived in Washington, we were here for nearly four years. I can't even count the number of times my mother brought us to Seattle, yet I've never been here before. It is magnificent."

Callie put her arm around Arizona. "Isn't it though? My papá used to tell me when I was a little girl, 'the real passage of discovery doesn't lie in viewing new cities, but rather, having new eyes to view a city you've always seen in the same way.' I never quite knew what that meant until I moved to Seattle and started coming here. This place just really puts life and the city into perspective, at least for me." Callie blushed and looked toward the ground, in fear that she had said too much.

"Hey," Arizona reached under Callie's chin to lift it until their eyes met and then cupped her cheek. "I think that is absolutely amazing. You are amazing."

The two women smiled and began leaning in towards each other without even noticing, almost like a force beyond their control was pulling them in, when they both felt icy raindrops and both stopped to look into the sky.

"You have got to be kidding me. I checked the weather three times today to make sure it wasn't supposed to rain." Callie mentally berated herself. _Of course, it's going to rain tonight. It rains in Seattle at least 320 days of the year. Why wouldn't it rain on your date?_

"It's really okay, I don't mind a little rain." Arizona loved a slight drizzle. The rain was one of her favorite things.

The rain began picking up, making the chilly November night in Seattle a lot colder than before. About that time, the two women heard a loud clap of thunder, followed by an incandescent strike of lightning. "We can go ahead to the restaurant since it's getting a bit stronger and a lot colder. I don't want us to get stuck in the middle of a storm."

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie and Arizona walked through the city once more, as the rain began coming down harder around them. Callie was starting to get worried, because she didn't want the blonde to get sick from the cold weather mixed with the icy rain, and ultimately decided they should find a place close to wait out the storm. The brunette didn't have too long to make a decision, because the rain began pouring down on them both, so she grabbed the blonde by the hand and began running until she spotted an old 50's style diner on the corner of an aged street where they could wait out the storm.

"Got caught in the storm on foot, did you?" The waitress handed the two soaked women a pair of towels. "Sit wherever you like dears. My name is Rose, and I'll be with you in a moment."

"Thank you so much." Callie expressed before she began wringing out her hair while Arizona dried off her body. They both looked up at the weatherman on the television above them, noticing a thunderstorm/flash flood warning for the next four hours.

The two women slid across from one another in a booth and began flipping through the menus on the table in front of them. "I'm really sorry, Arizona. This isn't how I imagined our first dinner together would be. I wanted to wow you, and take you to a fancy restaurant—one of the nicest in Seattle."

"So, we didn't go to a fancy restaurant. It's okay. I have had such a great time just talking and running around in the rain with you like we were children. So, we will sit in this adorable diner and eat cheeseburgers. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a good old fashioned cheeseburger? Too damn long, Callie. That's how long." Arizona laughed. "I don't care about a fancy date or a fancy restaurant, I'm just excited about finally going on a date with you. I've wanted to go out with you since the day you walked into my salon."

"Really?"

"Really. But you have to promise that you'll split a milkshake with me after dinner. Deal?"

Callie shook her head and smiled. "That's a deal."

"Are you ladies ready to order?"

Callie smiled up at Rose before gesturing towards Arizona to go first. "Hmm. I'll have a double cheeseburger with an order of curly fries, please. And a water to drink."

"And for you, sweetheart?"

Callie mulled over a few options before conceding to what Arizona had said. It had been far too long since she had a cheeseburger, and she loved cheeseburgers. "I'll just have a cheeseburger with regular fries, please. And a water to drink also."

"Alrighty. I've got two glasses of water, a double cheese, and a regular cheese, with an order of house cut fries and an order of curly fries. Can I get you, ladies, anything else right now?"

"Just a large chocolate milkshake after the meal with two straws and we will be set!" Arizona gave the woman one of her best-dimpled smiles before thanking her.

"I couldn't help but notice that not only did we walk on our date, but you walked to my place, so I still don't know what kind of car you drive. That is my first question for tonight while we wait out the thunderstorm. What kind of car do you drive?" Arizona crossed her arms and leaned forward onto the table.

"I drive a 1957 powder blue Thunderbird roadster convertible," Callie said with a straight face.

"For real? A Thunderbird?" Arizona was in awe. She didn't know much about cars, but she had learned enough from the colonel to know that was a rare car and that they weren't very common for people to just have and drive around.

"For real." Callie smiled at the thought of her car. It was her prized possession. "It was my Abuelo's car, and I inherited it once he could no longer drive as easily as he could when he was younger." Callie deliberated a moment. "My turn. What's your favorite song of all time?"

"Easy. 'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac." Arizona closed her eyes in thought. "The colonel loves music from the 60's and 70's, and it was always playing in the house. I learned the words to every song by Fleetwood Mac before I even learned to tie my shoes."

"You won't believe this, but that's my favorite song too. I used to sing it with my Papá." Callie smiled at the memory of she and her father dancing around the kitchen singing when she was very little before he went on so many business trips.

"I definitely don't think it was a coincidence that we met, or that we have the same favorite song." Arizona stuck her tongue out in mid-thought over her next question and Callie couldn't imagine anybody being any cuter than Arizona was in that moment.

The two women were quickly interrupted as Rose brought them their waters and food to the table, and they ate in silence for a few minutes before Arizona finally thought of a question. "What's your biggest fear?"

"Public speaking. I can't stand public speaking. It makes me sick to my stomach."

"I would not have guessed that at all. Mine is authority figures." She couldn't imagine this confident Latina being nervous when she was the center of attention. "I get frustrated, and for some reason when I get severely frustrated, I cry. So that just makes everything worse."

Callie hated to imagine Arizona upset in any way. "I honestly wouldn't have guessed that either," Callie said honestly. "Ooh, I thought of a good one. What's the story behind your name?"

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Countless questions, a large chocolate milkshake, and another basket of fries later, the storm finally subsided and the pair realized it was after midnight. "I guess I should be getting you home. I know you probably have a busy day tomorrow like I do."

Arizona sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I have a pretty early day tomorrow on top of it being busy."

The two women slid out of their corner booth and said their goodbye to Rose before paying and heading out into the chilly November night, beginning the walk back towards Arizona's apartment—hand in hand. A comfortable silence settled between the two women, with a slight twinge of sadness in the air because they both know the wonderful night will soon come to an end. Half an hour later, they make it to Arizona's doorstep—a light drizzle starting to come down once more.

"I had a wonderful time tonight, Arizona. Thank you for going out with me." Callie shot Arizona a big smile.

"I had a wonderful time too. Tonight, was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I was so happy I got to spend it with you. Please let me know when you make it back to Mark's safely." She knew it wasn't too far from the hospital, and the hospital was only about 15 minutes away from her apartment, but she couldn't help but worry about Callie anyway.

"Of course, I will, but I can't leave without a proper goodbye."

The Latina took a step up onto the small porch in front of the blonde's apartment door, and softly caressed the blonde's face with her palm, pushing a strand of golden hair behind her ear. She took a moment to look at the stunning woman before her, so new and unfamiliar, yet so natural to her at the same time. Right this very second, Callie does not know the taste of Arizona, how her hands will feel pressed against her bare skin, or how her breath will change with Callie's touch. She will never see Arizona in this way ever again, and she wanted to savor it for a moment.

She watched for merely a second more, unmoving, weighing the want and apprehension in the blue eyes that glisten before her from the street lights above them. Callie sees that the blonde doesn't know any of those things either. The brunette is also uncharted territory. God that felt so special. She wanted to remember this moment forever. She wanted to memorize the look on Arizona's face and the sparkle in those ocean blue eyes, because for the life of her, she knew that once she kissed Arizona there was no going back. There was a gravitation between them that neither could control, and Callie knew it. She knew that she could fall in love with this woman, and this was only the beginning.

With that last thought, Callie looked down at those pink lips, biting her own. She then looked back up into those eyes, before leaning in and pressing her lips against Arizona's. After a few moments of a chaste kiss, she started to pull back but immediately felt a cool hand on the back of her neck, pulling her back in. Arizona's tongue ran its way across a full bottom lip, followed by a small whimper Callie was unable to contain. Callie then parted her lips—granting Arizona the access she wanted. Both women moaned at the feeling of their tongues meeting for the first time in a heated kiss, their bodies seemingly melting into one another. A tanned hand made its way down Arizona's side, pulling her in closer.

That's how they stood—in front of Arizona's doorstep, lost in one other, kissing in the rain. Only once they both ran out of breath did they disconnect, immediately leaning their foreheads against one another with eyes locked—their breathing fragmented and more rapid than before.

Now that Callie has had a taste, she knew that she would never have enough. She knew in that moment, that she wanted to kiss Arizona goodnight for a very long time, and never goodbye.

"Finally." Arizona breathed out.

Callie chuckled and wondered if Arizona felt the same thing she was feeling. She had no idea what it was, but after kissing Arizona she knew that everyone else she had ever kissed had been wrong. Their kiss was cosmic, electric. She felt it everywhere, all at once. The blonde stirred her emotions, her heart, and deep down into her soul. She didn't know how else to describe it besides like coming home after a long day. She didn't know what any of that meant, but as scary as it was… after kissing those sweet, pink lips, she knew that she would be okay with kissing those lips for the rest of her life.

She picked up Arizona's hand and kissed the back of it softly before backing down the stairs. "Goodnight, Arizona."

Arizona wrapped her arms around herself and pushed a lock of blonde curls behind her ear as she blushed. "Goodnight, Callie."

Callie smiled and put her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket as she made her way down the sidewalk towards Mark's apartment. _Oh yeah, Torres. You are so screwed._


	5. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

**Chapter Five: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun**

Arizona Robbins was washing the scent of various essential oils from her hands after finishing up with her last massage client of the morning when she began daydreaming about a very heated goodnight kiss with a certain doctor. It had been three days since their date, and the two continued to talk every day and night. The blonde was exhausted from lack of sleep, but at the same time, she was invigorated by the exhilaration that spending time with Callie caused her. Her next appointment wasn't until around two in the afternoon, so she decided that she may have time for a short break.

"Hey, Lex? Do you think you could hold the fort down for about an hour? I have a few errands I need to run before my next client."

"Errands, huh? Would any of these errands happen to be named Dr. Callie?" Lexie called Arizona out with a giggle. Anybody with eyes could see how happy Arizona had been the past week or so after meeting the brunette at the salon. Lexie had stayed up with Arizona for nearly two hours following her date with the surgeon talking about how wonderful it was and how she felt like she had known Callie her entire life.

"Maybe, maybe not." Arizona shrugged her shoulders as she made her way out of the salon. "Thanks, Lexie! I owe you one."

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

On her walk to the hospital, Arizona decided to stop by a small family owned bakery that she had stumbled upon during her many explorations of the city, and pick up lunch for herself and the Latina. She made her way into the shop and ordered two ham and cheese croissants, two large vanilla hazelnut lattes, and one slice of homemade tiramisu for them to share.

Arizona hoped that Callie would be able to take a few minutes and have lunch with her before she had to make her way back to the salon.

Seattle Grace hospital was only a few blocks away from the bakery, and it didn't take very long for the blonde to make her way there after picking up lunch. She made her way through the front doors and looked around in awe. The hospital was beautiful. The front of the building was largely composed of glass, and once walking inside there were an array of staircases that led to an overlook that was located on what looked to be the third floor. Arizona honestly wasn't sure where to even begin looking for Callie, so she decided to start with the information desk at the front of the hospital.

"Hi, can you please tell me where I can find Doctor Callie Torres? I'm a friend of hers and brought lunch." Arizona was hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to find her.

"You looking for Torres?"

The voice came from behind and startled the blonde. Once she gathered herself, she turned to find a short African American woman looking up at her with annoyance. "Yes, I am. Could you tell me where I could find her?"

"She's up on the surgical floor. I know she had a shoulder repair scheduled for 1000, but she should be scrubbing out anytime now. I'm actually heading that way if you'd like to follow me."

"That would be wonderful actually. I'm afraid of getting lost in this place.

"Well, following me will be easier and quicker than having someone page her for you."

"Thank you," Arizona glanced down at the woman's name monogrammed into her lab coat, "Dr. Bailey. I appreciate your help."

The two women walked in silence to the elevators that were towards the front of the hospital, finally making their way to the surgical floor. The elevator doors opened to lots of commotion. There were nurses and doctors going in every different direction.

"The nurse's station is right there. She'll come over here to erase her surgery from the board and document what she did. You should be fine to wait here."

Arizona was about to say thank you again when the woman scanned her eyes across the large board filled with surgeries and loudly yelled at random. "GREY. You're with me, move it."

About that time, Arizona saw a woman in light blue scrubs nearly sprinting to catch up with the shorter woman. The blonde spent the next few minutes standing at the nurse's station on the surgical floor, bag and coffee carrier in hand—content with watching the hustle and bustle of the floor while she waited for a beautiful Latina _._

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie was scrubbing out, still humming to the beat of the 70's rock music she had playing during the surgery she completed just moments ago. She had rocked a repair on a rotator cuff tendon for the starting pitcher of a local college. With a few months of serious physical therapy, he should easily be back on the field next season. Sports related injuries were her favorite surgeries. She loved sports so much, and watching someone go from the injured reserve list to the field because of her handiwork gave her a very special sense of pride. She also made friends easily with the athletes, and that sometimes came with a few perks.

The brunette finished scrubbing out and made her way out of the room. As she rounded the corner by OR 3 she almost ran into Mark. "Hey, Torres. How'd it go?"

"You know better than to ask me that Sloan. It went perfectly."

"Well, not to brag or anything, but I had a trauma come in where a patient lost a fight with a dog. She had about ten different facial lacerations, but thanks to me, she won't even have a single visible scar." He even impressed himself with today's feat.

Callie reached her fist out, and it was quickly met by Mark's as they quickly congratulated each other with a fist bump. "It's not easy being this awesome, is it?"

"No, it isn't… but somebody has to do it. Might as well be us. Beauty, brains, raw talent… what more could we ask for?" Mark exaggeratingly stretched, to further prove his point when something at the nurse's station caught his eye. "Uh-oh, don't look too eager Torres, but I spy a very familiar looking curly headed blonde at the nurse's station."

Callie forgot all about her conversation with Mark as soon as she laid eyes on Arizona with her back facing them, leaning against the nurse's station. Callie smiled brightly and made her way to the blonde.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Reading over the surgical board, Arizona was taking in the sight of what her life could've been if she hadn't gotten a particular call one rainy night—three weeks before her second year of medical school. She remained lost in that thought until she heard a very familiar voice behind her.

"Looking for somebody, miss?"

Arizona could hear the smile in Callie's voice as she turned around, "Yes, actually. I'm feeling a little sick and I think I'm in need of a doctor." She eyed Callie up and down in her post-surgical uniform. She had on dark blue scrubs, partially covered by a light blue surgical gown that was open in the front. She had a black stethoscope poking out of her pocket, and her gorgeous raven, blue-streaked hair was pulled back by a scrub cap covered in black and white floral print, topped with several abstract lines in red. She still had her surgical mask tied around her neck by the bottom ties as she flashed a smile at the blonde—pulling it and the gown free from her body. She threw the gown in the bin for soiled linen and the mask in the trash.

"Well, it happens to be your lucky day then," Callie stated with a wink. "It's so good to see you, and I see you've brought coffee…" She eyed the large steaming cup before almost moaning. "Please tell me one of those is for me."

"No, I'm sorry. It's actually for the other hot doctor I'm seeing." Arizona said with a giggle.

"Well damn. Here I was, hoping we could go to the cafeteria and enjoy those coffees and the things in that mystery bag—just the two of us—until my next surgery."

"I think I may have just enough time to squeeze you in."

"Great!" Callie said with a smile, "Let me just get my lab coat from the attending's lounge and we can head that way."

Arizona followed Callie into a decently sized room filled with wooden lockers, a few tables, and a few couches. She leaned against the doorway as Callie made her way to a locker labeled "Dr. Torres". She placed her scrub cap in her locker, shaking and teasing her hair back down in the process, and then grabbed a white lab coat—placing it around her body before closing her locker back and leading Arizona to the cafeteria.

The two women sat down, and Arizona gave her the coffee to drink while she unpacked the paper bag. "I thought you might enjoy a little brunch with your coffee, so I got us each a ham and cheese croissant from a bakery about three blocks from here. I also have a surprise for dessert after."

"Thank you so much, this is such an amazing surprise." Callie couldn't believe that she had taken the time to come all the way to the hospital on her lunch break just to see her.

"Not as amazing of a surprise as you in that lab coat." Arizona licked her lips. "I have to say, you look even better in that than I imagined you would."

"Oh really? And what exactly have you imagined?"

"I'm sorry, but that's undisclosed information until at least date number three."

The tension between the two women was palpable, and Callie knew she was going to have to get a grip before she ended up taking Arizona to an on-call room after only having gone out with her once.

Arizona could feel the tension building between them and eyed Callie up and down for what felt like the hundredth time that day until she noticed something on her lab coat.

"Calliope."

Arizona watched as Callie began blushing, but all she could think about was how the beautiful name rolled off her tongue like silk, and she absolutely loved it.

Callie hated her full name. The only two people who called her by that name and lived to tell about it were her parents, but the way it sounded coming from the sweet lips of the woman sitting across from her… was nearly perfect. She actually didn't mind it. _Weird._

Arizona flashed her a heart-stopping smile before trying the name out on her lips once more. "Dr. Calliope Torres."

Callie blushed and looked down at the table. "I knew it wouldn't be too long before you discovered my little secret."

"Your full name is nearly as beautiful as you are. It suits you, but I must know if there is a story behind it."

"There is, but it isn't nearly as amazing a story as the U.S.S. Arizona, I assure you." Callie closed her eyes in thought, as she chose where to begin. "My father loves Greek mythology, he always has. When I was born and he heard me cry for the first time, he said 'I have never heard a more beautiful voice in all my years.' That was the moment he decided I should be named Calliope, which translates to "beautiful voice" in Greek. He did the same for my younger sister. She was a preemie when she was born and had to fight to stay alive. When she was a month old, my father got to hold her for the first time. The first thing he said was, 'She is lighter than air,' so he convinced my mother to name her Aria, which translates to "air" in Italian. That, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with Greek mythology, but Italian is one of the many languages he has learned to speak over the years since he is an international businessman."

"Wow. I absolutely love that. Names with deep meanings like that intrigue me, especially names as beautiful as your name and your sister's."

The two women smiled at one another as they finished the croissants that Arizona brought. Arizona immediately pulled out the piece of Tiramisu for the two of them to share. They had only eaten a few bites when they felt a presence nearing them, followed by Mark plopping himself down on a chair he had spun around backward.

"How are two of my favorite ladies this afternoon?" He asked with a toothy grin.

"What do you want Mark?" Callie just wanted a few minutes of alone time with the blonde before she had to leave.

"First of all, that's no way to say hello to your best friend. Second, of all, I merely came over to ask a question and give you something I think you'll be very interested in… so why don't we try that greeting one more time." He challenged with a smirk.

"Oh my God." Callie rolled her eyes at him. "We are wonderful, Mark. How are you?"

Arizona giggled. At first, she didn't know how she felt about the muscular, egocentric man, but he had kind of grown on her, and she could tell not only how much he meant to Callie, but how much he cared about her well being. He was really a softie and mostly talk when you got to know him a little better.

"That is great to hear. I'm doing fairly well myself." He loved giving Callie a hard time, but he could see that he was kind of pissing her off, so he decided to get to the point after one more jab. "Now was that so hard? Anyway, I came to give you this." He handed her an ad he found on the cork board just outside the cafeteria.

Callie read over the flyer. It was an ad for a two bedroom, one bath apartment for sublease. It had an open kitchen and a large living space. To top it all off, it was located near downtown Seattle and was across the street from the hospital, at only $1500 a month. "This would be perfect, Mark! Oh my gosh."

"It gets better. Check the address, Torres."

"Holy shit! It's your apartment complex."

"Uh huh, now check the apartment number."

"Apartment 502. It's literally the apartment across the hall from you. That would be perfect! I'm going to call them right now." Callie couldn't contain her excitement as she dialed the number on the flyer.

"Did you really think I would interrupt your little lunch date for no good reason?"

"Yes." Callie deadpanned before someone answered on the other line. "Hello, My name is Callie Torres and I'm very interested in the apartment you have available for sublease. Yes, apartment 502, I would love to lease it as soon as possible and can be there today, say around five?" She hoped that the woman would say yes. "That sounds great! I will meet you in the lobby."

"Well, do I get a new neighbor?" Mark said with his fingers crossed on both hands.

"Yes, Mark. You get a new neighbor." She shook her head at him before directing her attention to the beautiful blonde across the table and raised an eyebrow at her. "And I finally get my own apartment."

Arizona blushed from the heated look she was receiving from Callie and smiled. "Do you need any help moving since it's such short notice? I get off at seven today and can help you unpack boxes so it isn't so overwhelming."

"This is the last interjection I promise…" Mark said quickly. "You know I wouldn't mind helping, but I'm on the night shift in the ER tonight so you may definitely want to get blondie's help. I would also like to suggest that we have a game night or something in your new place. We haven't had one of those in forever, and I think it would be fun."

Callie thought it over for a second before agreeing. "That does sound like a lot of fun actually. We'll have to plan for next month though because my surgical schedule starts getting crazy next week."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Just let me know when and I can make my way across the hall, no problem." Mark said with a wink. "I'll leave you ladies to it, I've got a surgery scheduled to start in twenty minutes."

Arizona waved at him as he walked away. "Bye, Mark! It was nice to see you again."

He waved at them as he made his way out of the cafeteria, and Callie shook her head at her best friend. He was absolutely ridiculous, but she wouldn't trade him for the world. "So, you're serious about helping? You really don't have to."

"Are you kidding? An excuse to spend a little extra time with you, Calliope? It's really my pleasure." She thought a minute before giving Callie a playful smile. "Tell you what, if you want to give me a little extra incentive, wear some short shorts or something."

Callie laughed. "You're a real tease, you know that?"

"Of course I do, Calliope. How do you think I came up with the name for my salon? Pure coincidence?" The blonde chuckled.

Callie was just about to make a playful remark back when her pager went off. _Shit._ "Duty calls, I'm afraid."

Arizona smiled. "It's about time I get back to the salon anyway. Lexie has been manning it alone, and the afternoon rush is about to start. I'll see you tonight, though?" Arizona stood up and leaned in to give Callie a quick hug before she left, but as she pulled back she smiled up at the brunette before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Bye Calliope."

Callie could only smile and wave as the blonde walked away. She thought about how much fun moving was sure to be tonight with the blonde's help. She imagined the blonde breaking a sweat as she lifted heavy boxes and bit her lip in thought before her pager went off again. She shook her head from the daydream and ran towards the Emergency Room—trauma awaits.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona Robbins was making her way through the streets of downtown Seattle. It was a beautiful night for the rainy city, as there was an overcast but no rain. There was a small winter breeze in the air that made the walk so lovely. She had quickly gone home after work to change into a pair of comfy jeans and a V-neck shirt that was easy to move around in. Even with that, she had enough time to stop and buy a bottle of red wine for her and Callie to enjoy as they unpacked. She continued making her way towards the apartment complex directly across from Callie's hospital. Arizona made her way through the lobby and rode the elevator to the fifth floor. Right off the elevator, she saw Mark's apartment on the left, and Callie's new apartment on the right. She smiled when she heard loud 80's music coming from Callie's apartment as she knocked on the door. After a few minutes with no answer, she had pulled her phone out to call Callie's cell, when she heard an amused sounding "Hey" behind her.

"Hey, Mark. I thought you had night shift tonight?"

Mark leaned on the door frame of his apartment. "I do, but I figured I'd come heat up a little left over spaghetti before I head back to the hospital. Also, for future reference, you will quickly learn that to Callie, music isn't music unless it hurts your ears. There's no way she'll be able to hear you, so just move the potted fern next to the door. Her spare key is under there." With that, he nodded at her and shut his door back.

Arizona found the key and laughed at the song she heard currently playing as she opened the door. She closed the door behind her and turned to see the sexiest sight she had ever seen. There, in the kitchen, wearing nothing but a pair of lacy red underwear and an oversized Seattle Seahawks t-shirt, was the woman of her affection. She was dancing around the kitchen, surrounded by untouched moving boxes, and loudly singing to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Arizona found herself standing there in the doorway, partially amazed by the beautiful voice she could make out even over the loud music, but mostly amazed by the Latina's hips swaying in rhythm to the song. _God, she is so beautiful._ It wasn't until the song neared its end that Arizona softly placed the wine on the counter and jumped in beside Callie, belting out the lyrics with her. "THEY JUST WANNA. THEY JUST WANNA!"

Callie jumped slightly before breaking into a stunning smile as she saw Arizona standing next to her. She shimmied towards her and began singing back. "THEY JUST WANNA. THEY JUST WANNA!"

Arizona threw her head back in laughter and shimmied back towards Callie as they sang together. "OH GIRLS, JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!"

Callie then grabbed a broom and began putting on a show for Arizona. "When the working, when the working day is done. Oh, when the working day is done… Oh, girls… Girls, they wanna have fun!"

Arizona clapped for Callie as she bowed in front of her when the song came to an end. They laughed together as Callie paused the playlist blasting through the speakers.

"I must say, Calliope," Arizona said as she walked towards Callie and ran her hands down her sides. "Red lace looks extremely sexy on you."

Just like that, the mood in the room went from playful to dangerous. The two women could feel the temperature in the apartment rising quickly following the comment from the blonde. The Latina felt a familiar warmth make its way down her body, settling in a very intimate area. Callie made her way towards her room and rummaged around until she found an old pair of shorts that she knew made her ass look good.

"I can't have you staring at my ass all night Arizona. We'd never get any work done."

"Honestly, those shorts aren't any better, Calliope," Arizona whispered as she bit her lip.

Callie closed the distance between them and pulled Arizona into her body. She took a set of pink lips between her own and rested her hands on the small of the blonde's back.

Arizona ran her hands along the smooth material of Callie's very short, shorts before making her way up the Latina's back and clasping her hands together behind a tanned neck. The blonde let out a small moan as the brunette softly bit her bottom lip between her teeth, quickly followed by a swipe of her tongue to soothe it. Callie could feel the blonde's heartbeat against her own chest as they kissed until she lifted the blonde by the waist and sat her on top of the counter.

Arizona locked her ankles behind Callie's back, and lightly pushed her head to the side, kissing and biting along the side of her neck. Callie knew she needed to stop where things were headed very soon before they ended up in the bedroom. The blonde set her on fire, and she didn't have much self-control left to stop her advances. They had only known each other for two weeks, and she really wanted to get to know the blonde a bit more before they slept together. _Come on Callie. Deep breaths. You can do this._

"Arizona…?" Callie said through ragged breaths. "We should stop. Not that I don't like where this is headed, but I really want to do things the right way here, and I don't want us to move too fast." The brunette took a deep breath before continuing. "I really really like you, and I don't want to mess this up."

Arizona tilted her head to the side and pulled Callie's chin up so she could look into her deep brown eyes. "Calliope, I don't mind taking things slow. I'm sorry I got a little carried away… when you kiss me I feel like I lose the sense of time and the world around me. I really really like you too, and I don't want to mess this up either. I'm more than content just to be here with you and unpack boxes all night while you kill me in those shorts of yours." Arizona's voice dropped nearly an octave and she whispered low enough for Callie to feel her breath on her lips. "But, I do want you to know, that at some point I will run out of self-control. Judging by that kiss just now, it will be a lot sooner rather than later. And when that time comes—it's going to take the devil himself to stop me from having my way with that beautiful body of yours."

Callie felt her knees go weak and she could only nod at the blonde with very wide eyes. _Why the fuck did you stop her?! Do you know how long it's been since you had sex? Do you see this woman? SHE WANTS TO HAVE HER WAY WITH YOU, TORRES. Good lord, what is wrong with you?_

The blonde hopped off the countertop and left the brunette standing there in awe, continuing to have an internal battle with her own sexual desire. "So, where do you want to start?"

Callie watched her pour two tall glasses of wine and knew it was going to be a long night for her self-control.

• **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

A whole bottle of wine, five hours, and what felt like a thousand boxes later, the two women plopped down on the couch. Both of them were sweaty and exhausted from all the unpacking they had done. Arizona threw her feet on Callie's lap. It was after one in the morning, but the apartment was completely unpacked.

"Seriously, thank you so much for helping me tonight, Arizona. There's no way I would've gotten this finished without you."

"Anytime Calliope. I could think of worse things to do after work than spending the evening with a beautiful woman." Arizona threw a wink at Callie. "The only casualty was my feet. They're killing me."

"Well, it's a good thing I can fix that," Callie said as she slipped the socks off of Arizona's feet and pulled a bottle of coconut scented lotion from the side table. She poured a little into the palms of her hands and began working the lotion into the blonde's feet.

Arizona laid her head back and hummed at the pleasure. They sat in silence for a while before Callie noticed that Arizona had fallen asleep. She smiled and stood, carefully removing the blonde's legs from her lap and placing them on the side of the couch. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek before waking her up. "Arizona? You fell, asleep love. You're welcome to stay here if you're tired or I can give you a ride home, but I'm not letting you walk home this late."

"As much as I'd love to, I don't trust myself to stay over at your apartment, Calliope. Are you sure you don't mind giving me a ride home?"

Callie smiled. She wouldn't mind giving the blonde anything she asked for. "Of course, Arizona. I'll take you home."


	6. Penny For Your Thoughts

**Chapter Six: Penny For Your Thoughts**

Arizona Robbins sat at the desk in her office located in the back of her salon. She was elated that it was Saturday, because the only services she offered in the salon on Saturday were hair/nails. That meant that Saturday was her planning day as well as the day she checked inventory and managed the orders for the store. At the moment, however, there was only one thing she needed to manage. The blonde rolled her pen between her fingers as she mulled over different date options.

The demanding schedules of both the orthopedic surgeon and the salon owner had won the past two weeks. The two women were dying to see one other, and were both exhausted due to their busy schedules and late night phone calls, but Arizona planned to change all of that.

She finally had an off day the following day and she was hoping Callie would have the same following her crazy week at the hospital. Arizona wanted to do something special for the Latina. The blonde had discovered three new ideas and began writing them down when she heard a knock at her office door. "Come in!"

It was Lexie. "Hey 'Zona. I was just letting you know that Mama Robbins called. I put her on line one.

"Thanks, Lex. I appreciate it." Arizona picked the phone up off of the receiver and hit the pound sign, followed by the number one. "Hey, mom."

"Butterfly! It has been too long since I've heard that pretty voice of yours."

"I know, it has been a while. Things have been crazy since i moved back to Seattle and I've been working tirelessly to get the shop in order." Arizona felt bad about not having called her mom since she had been in the city. It was nearing two months since she moved back and she hadn't taken the time to call her mom once.

"There's something different about you. I can hear it in your voice."

"There's nothing different? I don't know what you mean."

"You sound different butterfly. It's a mother's intuition. Something has changed, and I will find out what it is."

Arizona shook her head at her stubborn mother. Barbara Robbins always knew when there was something even slightly different with her babies. She made sure she was very involved in everything. "I'm sure you will mom. Where's the Colonel?"

"You know him, baby. He's out on his Saturday morning three-mile run."

"Of course, how could i forget that?" He ran three miles every Saturday morning. For punishment when Arizona broke curfew on Friday night's growing up, she'd have to go running with him, which was the worst punishment Arizona ever received.

Arizona was broken out of her memory by the ringing of her personal phone. "Mom, I've got to take this. I will talk to you again soon, I promise."

"Mhm. Something is up. A mother knows, butterfly. A mother knows. I will talk to you soon. I love you so much, babygirl."

"I know mom, I love you so much too. Bye." As soon as she hung up her office phone, she answered her cell phone. "Calliope." She said with a smile.

"Hey there, sweetness. How's your day going?"

"It's been pretty slow around here actually. It's about time. I've just finished up the inventory for the day and I'm about to place my order. How about yours?" Arizona couldn't wait to ask the Latina on a date. It will be their third.

"I had a lot of surgeries this morning that I'm still working my way through, but I finally got a second to eat something, call you, and drink another coffee before diving into the next available OR."

"I'm glad you finally got a second. Hey, Callie?"

"Me too. Yeah?"

"I really miss you."

"I know, Arizona. I really miss you too. It's been far too long since our dance party.

"I miss you so much, in fact, I'm going to take you out tonight if you're free."

"Oh, I'm most definitely free. What time should I expect you?"

"Let's say…five?"

Callie smiled to herself. An early date meant more time with Arizona. She would have to find a way to get off in time so that she could go on this date. She wouldn't miss it for the world. "That sounds perfect. I'll see you then."

"Yes, you will. Bye Calliope."

"Bye Arizona." Now she only had to finish three surgeries and get ready for a date with an incredibly hot blonde. Today was going to be a good day.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie was putting the final touches on her outfit of the night. She decided to go casual and wear another one of her leather jackets with a green top underneath it and a pair of skinny jeans. She smiled when she heard a knock on the door, because she knew exactly who it was.

There was a small moment of silence once she opened the door before Callie pulled Arizona inside and pressed her body into the blue wooden door behind her, lips uniting with the blonde woman in front of her. Before they knew it, tongues and teeth were clashing, as the temperature in the room began to rise. Both women quickly became breathless, as Arizona steadied herself and said "As much as I'm loving this, I have a really fun date planned."

Callie smiled at Arizona and offered her hand. "Let's get going then, beautiful."

Once the women made it down the stairs and started walking along the street, Callie got curious. "So what are we doing on this really fun date, Miss Robbins?"

Arizona stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk and handed Callie a penny.

Callie turned the coin on both sides and looked at Arizona quizzically. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh my god Calliope," Arizona said with a laugh.

"Seriously, I don't follow."

"We're going on a penny date. Since we had so much fun when our plans fell through on our first date and we ended up in that cute little diner, I thought it would be fun to come up with an idea where we could explore and be a little adventurous….pick a number Calliope."

"Okay… um…seventeen?"

"Okay. So here's the plan. We are going to walk down this road and when we become faced with the option to turn left or right we will flip the penny. Heads is left, tails is right. We will do that every single time we have the option to turn, and based on your number choice we will do that seventeen times. Then, wherever we end up we have our date there. We can visit whatever little shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions are there."

Callie smiled at the amazing woman in front of her. Enamored by her childlike sense of wonder and excitement. It gave Callie goosebumps. "Let's do it." They continued down the first road until they reached its end, and Callie flipped the penny. "Tails."

"Right it is, Calliope."

A few moments later, the women met the end of the second street. Callie handed the coin to Arizona so that she could have a chance to flip it. "Heads."

Callie smirked. "Left it is, Arizona."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

They walked with a slow pace, for the next hour. Taking in the scenery around them and enjoying each other's company as they talked about their childhoods, families, and beautiful areas they found themselves walking past until they reached the end of the seventeenth street they had been on. "Okay Calliope. This is it."

Callie faked a drum roll before the flipped the coin. They both watched it flip in the air and looked as it landed in Callie's hand. "Tails."

"Right it is," Arizona said with a wink.

They turned and were met with the most gorgeous street the women had ever seen. "Wow." The women exclaimed in unison.

There was a long, cobblestone street lined with beautiful trees, creating a canopy above the street itself. The trees were lined with string lights that went across the entire length of the street, and they both knew it would be beautiful once it got dark later in the evening. Arizona looked around in search of a sign so that they knew exactly where they were. "Pioneer Square. I've never been here before."

"Me either, but it is breathtaking."

They looked around at the various antique shops, bookstores, coffee shops, restaurants, and even a glass blowing studio.

"Well, what do you want to do first, Calliope? Tonight is your night, my treat."

The brunette trained her eyes on the two antique shops she had seen the second they turned onto this street, and looked back at arizona with wide eyes anda child like smile before pulling her towards the shops. They took their time, hand in hand, as they made their way through the shop. There was nothing particular on each of their minds, and they had all the time in the world. Towards the back of the shop, Callie spotted something in the corner and let go of Arizona's hadn to make her way toward whatever it was. "What did you find, Calliope?"

"A box of old postcards and old sheet music of hymns. I've always had a fascination with postcards. My abuelo and abuela were separated by distance for a long time due to him beginning a business enterprise. He traveled the world while she stayed home to take care of my father, his younger brother, and his three sisters. He would send her a postcard from wherever he was, just to let her know that he was safe and he loved her more than air." Callie paused and ran her fingers over the postcards in the box. "She kept every single one of them, and I read them so much as a little girl that I memorized them all. I always wanted to find a love like theirs. He could be in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but the only thing on his mind was that nothing in the world was as beautiful a sight as the eyes of his lover back home."

Arizona could only smile at the woman. She amazed her more and more as they spent more time together. "Let's each find a love letter on a post card to take with us, then."

Both women spent a while going through the postcards until they each found one they liked, and Callie picked ten sheets of old, worn hymnal music right before they made their way to check out and continue their date night.

The next stop they made was the glass blowing studio. Callie and Arizona were the only two visitors in the shop. They were closing in 45 minutes but asked if the women wanted a free lesson.

"Sure!" Callie said as she and Arizona made their way to the other side of the counter. The women watched as the man stuck a hollow, stainless steel tube into a furnace and came out with a clear blob of molten glass on the end. He asked the women their favorite colors and Callie smiled before saying "Red and blue."

"That will make a beautiful piece." The man said. "Since we are pressed for time, I will show you how to make a paperweight and it'll be on the house." He took the glass and ran it through a clear gloss before running it through two different colored bowls filled with broken pieces of glass. When he lifted the piece from the bowls, you could tell it had red and blue speckles throughout. When it is mixed together, it will have streaks of purple where the colors have become one."

He then stuck the tube into a hole in the wall where another furnace was located. He quickly explained that it was over two thousand degrees, and its purpose was to melt the pieces of glass into the glass he already had on the end of the tube. When he pulled it out, it was a beautiful circle filled with speckles of red and blue. He lengthened it along a metal table for a moment, and then used tweezers to pull at it. The hot glass resembled taffy as it was manipulated and pulled, changing a few areas of blue and red to gorgeous streaks of purple before their very eyes. He placed it back into the furnace with the molten glass, covering his work with a layer of clear glass. When he pulled it out, he before laid it high in a stand and asked who wanted to blow the glass. Arizona nodded for Callie to go forward, and Callie simply smiled as the man taught her how to blow the glass slowly and steadily until it made a large circle. Arizona could tell how happy Callie was, and she began taking pictures to document their night together.

He took calipers to make a thin ring across the top of the circle, before placing it into a water soaked wooden spoon so that he could smooth all the sides. HE told callie to place a large pair of oven mitts on her hands so that he could detach the paperweight from the tube. He laid the glass in callie's hands, covered by the mitts, and lightly tapped the end of the tube until the paperweight fell of. It looked as if waves of purple, red, and blue were trapped inside this clear bubble. It was beautiful. Sh smiled and showed arizona as theman instructed he rto place it into the kiln so that it could harden and dry completely. He said after 24 hours he could send it to them if they left their address and a phone number.

The two women thanked the man as they left the shop and made their way to the café next door for dinner. It was there they talked until their food was gone, and they drank coffee while the sun set behind the buildings that lined the opposite side of the street. The string lights were lit among the trees when the women paid and began making their way down the street, taking in the beautiful scenery around them when Arizona turned to face Callie.

She looked up at her and culd see her eyes sparkling at the street in front of them. The glowing of the lights across her caramel colored skin and deep chocolate brown eyes was breathtaking, and Arizona couldn't help herself as she stopped them from their walk and leaned up to kiss callie along the side of the cheek. When she pulled back, Callie cupped the underside of Arizona's chin and pulled her into a kiss on the lips. Both women could feel the other's smile through their kiss as their lips touched, drowning the outside world until the women noticed a flash out of the corner of their vision.

They turned to find a woman carrying an old Polaroid camera that had just released a photo. She began speaking as she shook it. "Hi, I'm sorry for intruding on your private moment, but I walk around this area and take candid pictures of the people who visit here. Not many people take candids anymore, and it always made me happy to catch people in their most natural form." The woman smiled as she handed the two women their picture. "I hope the two of you are having a great night. It makes me happy to see two people so in love."

Callie and Arizona both blushed, lost in thought at what the woman said before she left as they ran their eyes across the picture. There they were, in a natural looking embrace with one another. Smal smiles were playing on the edges of their lips as they touched. Both women had a blush ghosting their cheeks while the lights hanging in the trees shimmered in the background—illuminating the area around the two women where the Seattle rain had dampened the cobblestone road beneath them. There was something you could see in the picture happening between the two women, but love was a very strong and scary word. Sure, they both really liked one another, but love? Both women hoped that the other would ignore the comment for now.

"Hey, how about we go back to my place and curl up with a glass of wine before the night ends?"

"I would like that very much, Calliope."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

It was after eleven when they made their way to Callie's apartment. They both kicked their heels off at the door, and Callie told Arizona to make herself comfortable while she fixed them two glasses of wine.

Callie was uncorking the bottle of Moscato she had bought just for Arizona when she felt a presence behind her and the temperature in the room rise as a pair of warm lips kissed her shoulder blade. A pair of arms then wrapped themselves around her waist. She took a deep breath before she spun around and met Arizona's lips so feverishly that it caught the blonde off guard and she let out a moan that only acted to spur Callie on.

Callie quickly lifted the blonde by the waist and sat her ontop of the counter, where the blonde locked her legs behind the brunette's lower back and pulled her in closer so she could kiss her even deeper than she already was.

Their tongues met almost immediately and when the blonde got more of that unique taste that was simply Callie, her arousal began pulsing through her body. She knew that unless Callie stopped her soon, she wouldn't be able to stop herself. It was just after that thought, when Callie's teeth dug nearly perfectly into the flesh of her bottom lip for just a second and she said "Callie…I—"

Callie placed her finger over the blonde's lips when she pulled back and looked straight into Arizona's deep blue eyes, currently darkened with desire. "Arizona, I don't want you to stop."

The sound of Callie's voice laced with lust mixed with her brown eyes being so dark they were nearly black was all Arizona needed. Her hands went from Callie's face to lunging into her short locks of hair. Their teeth clashed slightly as their kisses became hungrier and deeper.

Callie pulled away from Arizona's mouth and began kissing down the side of her neck and running her hands along Arizona's sides when Arizona tried speaking between her extremely labored breaths. "Calliope—bedroom."

Callie placed her hands underneath arizona's ass, clad in a dangerously tight pair of black skinny jeans and carried her to her bedroom, before softly placing her on the bed, laying her back, and covering Arizona's body with her own. She felt Arizona pulling at the hem of her shirt and allowed her to pull it over the top of her head, as she pulled arizona up to a sitting position so that she could rid her of her own shirt. The women pressed their nearly bare upper bodies flush together as they fell back into a heated kiss. They both began unclasping the last piece of clothing on their upper body. They both paused and perused the other for a moment before continuing. "My god, Calliope. You are so incredibly beautiful."

Callie smiled and pushed Arizona onto her back before stating, "I intend to show you how beautiful I think you are.

Arizona and Callie both moaned as their bare chests connected for the first time. Callie kissed Arizona's neck and began to make her way down to her breasts. Arizona held her breath and when Callie flicked a finger over one nipple as she took the other into her mouth, she let out a groan as her body shuddered beneath Callie's touch. She ran her tongue around the blonde's nipple, taking it lightly between her teeth and eliciting a moan from the blonde that send warmth straight to her core.

Arizona couldn't take it any longer. She had to taste Callie. She flipped them, landing on top of the brunette and taking her by surprise. She began kissing the side of Callie's neck and nibbling on her ear before she could protest. As she kissed her way down Callie's chest and across her stomach, she stopped and sat up to unbutton the brunette's jeans.

Reality set in for Callie when she felt the blonde's fingers on the outside of her jeans, and she meekly asked, "Are we moving too fast?

Arizona looked her dead in the eyes. "Calliope, I can't tell you how long I feel like I've waited for this moment. As much as I want your hands on every single inch of my body, I need to fuck you. Right now. Or I might die."

Callie's hips bucked slightly at Arizona's outburst, and she bit her lip before smirking slightly. "No."

"No?" Arizona was confused. She had thought they were on the same page.

Callie giggled at Arizona's confusion and sat up. "I want you to fuck me, Arizona. But we have both waited what feels like forever for this, and I'm wiling to bet we are going to have plenty of time for fast and rough nights of sex with reckless abandon, but that's not what I want right now."

Arizona gulped. "What do you want right now, Calliope?"

Callie looked seductively at Arizona before dropping her voice nearly an entire octave. "Fóllame, Arizona. Pero fóllame despacito."

Arizona felt her knees go weak as Callie's sultry Spanish words went straight to her core, and even though she had absolutely no idea what Callie said, she was positive that she was soaked through her underwear completely, and she had barely been touched. "Wha—what does that mean?" Arizona stuttered.

"It means fuck me, Arizona. But fuck me slowly."

 _Dear God._ "I can definitely do that."

With that, Arizona pushed callie back onto the bed before unbuttoning her jeans, pulling htem off her body, and tossing them across the room. She paused a moment an took in the sight of this gorgeous woman. She was lying there, in only a pair of lacy red panties with a slight sheen of sweat across her chest and forehead. Her breathing was labored and she was ready for arizona to slowly have her way with her. It was almost too much for her to handle. It was then that she stood up and removed her own pants. She topped Callie's body with her own, slightly pushing a muscled thigh into Callie's center, which elicited a loud moan from the brunette. Arizona could've come right then just from the sound. She kissed her way down the brunette's neck and made her way down the woman's chest. She took each erect nipple into her mouth, but not quickly. She wasn't going to go fast. Callie wanted her to take her time. She had stripped the brunette of every article of clothing on her body except for one, and now she intended to worship every inch of the beautiful woman's body with her own.

She watched Callie bite her lip as she worshipped her chest, and Arizona ran her hand slowly along the muscles of her abdomen until she reached the hem of her panties. She ran her hand along the front of them, feeling the moisture that had collected on them. This extracted another loud groan from the brunette, and an audible "fuck" from under her breath. Arizona slwowly rubbed on top of her clit through her underwear and watched Callie's face the entire time, until she couldn't take it any longer. She kissed her way down the woman's abdomen, slowly pulling her underwear down. She was met by Callie's sweet smelling arousal for the first time. She spread the brunette's legs as she settled between them and began kissing both sides of her inner thights, making her way slowly toward the Latina's dripping center. The blonde wanted nothing more than to taste Callie, and going slow was doing nothing but increasing her own libido. Arizona kissed both sides of Callie's clit before slowly licking up and down, once. Then twice. When she felt Callie's hips slightly buck she knew Callie seemed to be enjoying it as much as she was. She slid her tongue further down, until it was met with a greater wetness. Groaning, she began tasting every bit of Callie. She struggled to keep from diving in and taking in everything Callie had to give her. So she did just that. She felt Callie's hands in her hair, and kept going until she heard the sweetest and sexiest voice repeating the word she had just learned, minutes ago.

"Despacito. Despacito bebé." Callie said through her moans.

God. Callie was the sexiest woman she had ever seen, but she transcended when she spoke Spanish. It did things to Arizona that she didn't even know how to explain. She slowly licked back up to Callie's clit and began slowly circling around it to the tune of Callie's moans. Just as she began running her fingers around the brunette's opening, she felt Callie start to pull her up. "I want you up here with me. I want to kiss you."

Arizona kissed her clit one last time before kissing her way back up Callie's body, resting herself on Callie's side and pressing her lips onto the brunette's.

Their tongues met, and Callie groaned as she tasted herself on the blonde's mouth. She kissed the side of Arizona's neck and nibbled on her ear before whispering "I want you inside me Arizona."

The blonde gulped and took the brunette's lips with her own once more as she slowly ran her hand down her lover's olive-skinned body, immediately being met with wetness on the tips of her fingers. She pushed them down further, circling her entrance before barely pushing one of them inside, then pushing it in all the way.

Callie whimpered and let out a loud moan. She groaned again when Arizona pulled out,, then thrust back in. After a few more thrusts, she added a second finger and started kissing Callie's new, nibbling on her pulse point. She kept the same rhythm for a few moments when Callie started moaning again. "Fuck, Arizona. Don't stop."

Arizona continued kissing the brunette's neck and thrusting in and out of her when she started speaking Spanish again. "¡Oh Dios mío. Ahí, Ahí, derecho ahí!"

"Come for me, Calliope." It wasn't long before tanned hands found their way into blonde curls, as they tightened almost achingly. Her moans got louder and closer together before she felt Callie tightening around her fingers, followed by her name echoing around the room.

Arizona continued to take her time, as Callie asked, slowly bringing her down from her orgasm. She pulled her fingers out from inside of her and straddled Callie's hips. She knew Callie could feel her heat through her underwear. She nearly came herself at the sound of Callie's orgasm ripping through her, but somehow she held it together. She desperately needed a release though. There was no way she could handle slow right now, and she needed Callie bad. "Calliope—I…" was all she got out before the woman below her slid her hand in between their bodies and onto Arizona's clit after pushing her underwear to the side.

"Jesus, Arizona. You're so wet."

"Callie please—" before she could finish, two fingers slid inside of her, causing Arizona to throw her head back and release a load moan that tore its way from deep inside her body. "Fuck, yes!"

Callie continued thrusting in and out of Arizona as she watched the woman's body writhe above her. She could only stare as Arizona bit her lip, riding her hand. _Fuck. This woman is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen._ Callie sat up, taking one of the blonde's nipples between her lips and began thrusting deeper and faster into the blonde, knowing that she despearately needed a release. She began moaning more loudly than before, and Callie could feel her muscles tightening on top of her as she started to say Callie's name. "Yes, right there. Don't stop, Callio—" that was the last thing Callie heard as Arizona let out a load moan and bit the side of her neck in an attempt to muffle her screams.

They stayed there, wrapped around one another, while Arizona rode out her aftershocks. Minutes later, Arizona rolled onto her side and fell onto the mattress. She groaned when Callie's fingers slid out from inside of her. "Oh my god, that was amazing."

Callie laughed, laying next to the blonde. She turned on her side, resting her head on her elbow. She watched the blonde's chest rise and fall with each breath. "Oh my god is right. It was amazing for me too." Callie smiled devilishly before adding. "Are you too tired for round two?"

Arizona turned and saw those dark eyes before topping Callie with her body. "Not if you aren't."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Four hours, and an outrageous amount of orgasms later, the women laid next to one another, sweaty and exhausted from the endless rounds of sex. "Calliope? Can I stay tonight?"

"Hermosa, did you really think I was going to let you leave? Especially after all of that." Callie pulled the blonde into her front and they cuddled there, bare bodies connected as closely as they could possibly be, and both women remained there until they drifted off to sleep.


	7. Sunday Morning

_**Author's Note**_ _: Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the story. I meant to post this with chapter six, but I ended up scrapping it halfway through and starting over. I'm really happy with how this one turned out and I hope you all feel the same. Please keep commenting and leaving suggestions and concerns—I read them all and enjoy anything to help my writing. Feel free to comment things that you would/wouldn't like to see as well! You never know if it's part of my outline already. Thank you so much for all the support and love so far. As of right now, I anticipate this being about a 30 Chapter fic, so we have a ways to go! Keep reading, and enjoy the ride._ _ **–Jess**_

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

 **Chapter Seven: Sunday Morning**

The steady beat of rain against a window woke Arizona from her slumber. She sluggishly opened her eyes, blinking them to bring her surroundings into focus. She wasn't sure where she was for a moment, but when she heard a small snore to her right, she smiled giddily in remembrance of the night before. _We had sex. Mind-blowing, life-changing, all-consuming sex. Hours and hours of sex. You go Robbins._ The blonde looked toward the exquisite woman sleeping beside her—hair tousled against the pillow, a thin sheet covering her lower body and leaving a deliciously smooth bare back exposed. A few streaks of sunlight made their way from behind the clouds and through the window on this otherwise dreary Sunday morning. _My God, Calliope Torres is miraculously stunning._ Her beautifully tanned skin was nearly glowing as she slept soundly beside Arizona. Blue eyes leisurely shifted to the clock on Callie's nightstand, where she read that it was fifteen after eleven.

The blonde slowly stretched her pleasantly sore muscles and moved closer to the sleeping Latina. She kissed down the length of her backbone—making note of each mark she found along the woman's body. There were clusters of small freckles dotting her shoulders and a small birthmark in between them. She also had a small scar on the left side of her backbone. The next mark Arizona found caused her face to redden. On the top of Callie's left shoulder was a deep bruise that was outlined with a few teeth marks. Arizona immediately recognized that as the spot she bit down on during one of her orgasms the night before. The blonde ran her hands along each of the marks, following her trail with light kisses. A moment later, Arizona felt Callie stirring beneath her.

"Did I not tire you out enough last night?" Callie asked with a chuckle.

"Oh, you definitely did, but for the life of me I just can't seem to get enough of you."

Callie hummed and flipped her body over so that she could place a kiss on Arizona's lips. "Good morning, beautiful. I could get used to Sunday mornings like this."

"You and me both," Arizona whispered back as she shifted her body on top of Callie's. She pressed a kiss on Callie's full lips and ran the tip of her tongue along the edge of them. Callie quickly granted her access and their tongues met once again in a now very familiar dance. Hands began wandering downward, and things began getting heated as they had many times the night before, when the air was met with a very loud growl. Callie broke their kiss to find a very sheepish looking Arizona.

"It seems as if you can't survive on devouring me alone, Arizona." Callie joked with a wink. "How about I make us breakfast?"

Arizona shot up on the bed. "Oooh yes, please! Can we have pancakes?" She thought for another moment before her eyes got wider and she added, "with chocolate chips?"

"I can't figure out how one human can be sexy as hell one moment and as adorable as a child the next." Callie looked at Arizona very inquisitively as she seemed to decide something. "I will make YOU chocolate chip pancakes, but some of us don't want to start our morning with a cavity."

"You're no fun, Calliope. I'll have you know that I grew up on chocolate chip pancakes, and I have perfect teeth." Arizona crossed her arms with a huff.

 _Can she possibly get more adorable?_ Callie couldn't even pretend to be irritated with the blonde as she sat cross-legged on the bed, completely naked, with her blonde hair in a mess of curls, and her bright blue eyes shimmering more brilliantly than she had ever seen them. "I think I proved last night that I can be plenty of fun."

"Mmm, " Arizona closed her eyes and flashed back to her fifth or sixth orgasm of the night. "Yeah, I have to say that I agree with that statement, and I retract my previous one." She then gave Callie another peck on the lips for good measure.

"That's what I thought." Callie got up and stretched her arms above her head, her back popping in a few places as she did so. She ran her fingers through her hair before making her way to her dresser and slipping on a pair of boy shorts as well as her favorite Seattle Seahawks t-shirt that she lounged around in on most of her off days.

Once Callie disappeared into the kitchen and she heard the clanging of various pans, Arizona decided she should get up herself. She put on her underwear from the night before—much to her chagrin. She hadn't wanted to assume how their date was going to go, so she didn't come prepared with an overnight bag and would have to deal with the underwear Callie had ruined until she had a chance to go by her own apartment later that afternoon. She dug through one of Callie's drawers until she found a comfy sweatshirt that read "University of Miami" on the front and pulled it over her head before making her way into the kitchen, where Callie was already flipping pancakes.

"Mmm. I smell the coffee."

Callie laughed and placed a piping hot mug of coffee in front of the blonde woman. "I already took the liberty of pulling out the creamer and sugar since I assume you will most likely be turning your coffee into chocolate milk." At the mention of chocolate milk, Callie received the most precious, wide-eyed look she had ever seen a grown woman give.

"Do you happen to have chocolate milk…? I want that with my pancakes."

Callie couldn't believe the sweet tooth of the smaller blonde woman. "I actually do have chocolate milk."

Arizona gave Callie the biggest dimpled smile that she could muster. "Pretty please?"

A few minutes later, Callie placed a hot stack of chocolate chip pancakes with bacon alongside them in front of Arizona. She then fixed her own stack of buttermilk pancakes and bacon. She poured another cup of black coffee for herself and poured a tall glass of chocolate milk for the blonde.

They ate in silence for a while, the calming sound of forks clanking against the plates as both women realized how much of an appetite they had worked up with the previous night's events.

Callie broke the silence when she remembered something. "Do you know what today is?"

"Yeah? It's Sunday the 14th. Why?"

"Nope, that's not what I meant, babe. It's game night. Remember when you came to the hospital the other day? Mark wanted to throw a game night and a housewarming party. We decided on this Sunday about six days ago."

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that." Arizona started getting excited. She wanted to meet all of Callie's friends. She wanted to experience and learn everything she could about Callie.

"That means we have to go to the market and get some things to make for tonight."

"Grocery shopping together? How domestic of you Calliope."

"You know what they say. First, comes multiple orgasms, then comes grocery shopping, then comes a U-Haul. The true gay agenda."

Both women erupted in laughter.

"I think I can handle the gay agenda, as long as I get to accomplish it with you." Arizona smiled at Callie before putting the last forkful of pancakes in her mouth.

"I don't know about you, but I smell like sex. So, I vote we go take a shower." Callie flashed Arizona a devilish smile, before turning and disappearing into the bathroom.

 _Chocolate chip pancakes AND morning shower sex? This woman wants to kill me._ Arizona waited a moment—burrowing her face into the collar of the sweatshirt she currently wore, inhaling the aroma that was Calliope Torres before she followed suit; biting her lip and sprinting into the bathroom.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The two women ended up getting slightly distracted and were now running late. What was intended to be a quick scrub for them to wash the sex from their bodies from the previous night quickly turned into a few very steamy rounds of shower sex?

They finally made their way to Arizona's apartment so that she could change out of Callie's clothes before they went shopping. They walked into an amused looking Lexie who was reading a book on the couch.

"Hey Zona, I haven't seen that sweatshirt before, is it new?" She smirked before she added, "Callie. It's good to see you again."

Arizona only rolled her eyes as she disappeared into her bedroom. "Hi Lexie, it's good to see you again too. Arizona needed to change before we went shopping for snacks." Callie sat on the couch, opposite Lexie and added, "We're having an apartment warming game night tonight at my place with a few of my friends and co-workers. You should come and get to know them! I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future anyway."

"That actually sounds really fun. I don't think I have anything going on tonight, so I'll be there. Just have Zona text me the time and address. Do I need to bring anything?"

"Not unless you want any particular kind of alcohol. Outside of beer and wine, I'm no help. The boys are bringing scotch."

"Okay, that sounds good. Also, Callie?" Lexie leaned forward, looking over her shoulder before lowering her voice and continuing. "Arizona hasn't been this happy around anyone in a long time. She doesn't trust people often and rarely lets her guard down—especially for just anybody. That means you are very special to her. I just want you to know that, as her best friend, I ask you to please take good care of her. She deserves so much."

Callie smiled softly at the younger woman. "I will, Lexie. She's a very special woman, and I intend to treat her as such. She makes me just as happy, I assure you, and I hope to continue making her happy for as long as she'll have my company."

The two smiled at each other. The mutual love of the same contagiously perky, curly headed blonde causing them to house respect and friendship for one another.

A loud cough startled both women. "Am I interrupting something ladies?" Arizona said as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, boss. I'm making a move on your lady. I decided I'd take a stroll down the Sapphic street." Lexie joked.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll love it there. It's lovely in the wintertime." Arizona added with a laugh. "Okay Lex, we're off."

"It was good to see you again Lexie, and we will see you later tonight!" Callie added with a wave.

Lexie watched with a smile as Callie held the door open for Arizona, and took her hand as they made their way out the door. Lexie could tell that there was a strong connection between the two women and hoped with all her heart that it would work out for Arizona. She had been through enough pain in her life and deserved a break. Lucky for her, she was fairly sure that break was a certain Latina with a big smile and blue streaks in her hair.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie and Arizona had successfully made it through their first shopping trip together. The former learning that the only thing the latter loved more than chocolate chip pancakes were doughnuts—they left the store with two dozen because Callie can't seem to say no to those dazzling sapphire eyes. Callie had made sure to get more nutritious snacks as well, but she would do anything to make the blonde happy. The two women were driving leisurely through the streets of downtown Seattle, and about to turn onto Callie's street when Arizona yelled, scaring the shit out of Callie.

"CALLIOPE WAIT!"

"WHAT?! What's wrong?" Callie could feel her heart in her throat. She had thought a car was about to hit them when the blonde screamed.

"CHRISTMAS TREES! We should get a Christmas tree for your apartment! We can decorate it together." She then pointed to the side of the road, where a man had dozens of freshly chopped trees on display—the holiday quickly approaching.

Callie chuckled at Arizona nearly bouncing with excitement in the passenger seat as she pulled over near the small forest of pines that had made its way into the city. "Then let's get a Christmas tree."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The blonde had walked to every single Christmas tree at least twice before she finally decided on an adorable little five-foot tree. The man told them it would be a few minutes as he wrapped it up for it to fit in their vehicle, and Arizona found a little tent housing a countless number of ornaments lining the walls, along with boxes upon boxes filled with glowing lights. Callie nodded at her to make a selection, but it didn't take the blonde very long to decide. She had found a box filled with blue and red ornaments—perfect for her and Callie. The women opted for white lights to keep the focus on the colors of the ornaments, and then Arizona picked out an awkwardly large, glittery star to top it off.

They somehow managed to fit everything in the back of Callie's T-bird—even the Christmas tree—after lots of trial and error and continued their trek towards Callie's apartment.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

It took all their strength and half an hour to get the tree, the groceries, and everything else they picked up along the way up to the fifth floor, but they got it done. Callie collapsed onto the couch in pure exhaustion, the past few days beginning to catch up with her. Arizona didn't feel the same, or at least she wasn't letting herself it seemed. She began bouncing around the living room, trying to decide where the perfect place was to put the tree. She finally decided on a place in the corner of the room, near a window and in an open space that would leave plenty of room for presents. She then made her way to the couch and pulled on Callie's arm. "Come on Calliope! Let's decorate."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

At seven there was a knock on the door.

"Come in! It's open." Callie yelled from the kitchen. She and Arizona had spent the last few hours decorating the Christmas tree that was now glowing in the corner of the room, and even had time for a small nap before Callie started making finger foods. The blonde decorated the rest of the apartment while Callie cooked. Surprisingly, with only two pauses to dance with one another to a few classic rock songs, they had finished most everything before anybody showed up.

"Hey, guys! I'm not too early, am I?" Lexie walked in, her cheeks rosy from the cool December night.

"No! you're on time actually. My crew is late to everything. You'd think they'd have better time management skills being doctors and all, but they mean well." She gestured to the bar and the living room. "Please, make yourself at home. The alcohol is over here on the bar, as well as all the food, and the party will be in the living room I'm sure."

Lexie popped the top off a beer and began telling Callie how lovely her apartment was when the door opened suddenly and a husky voice boomed throughout the space. "I smelled something delicious, so I decided I should come on over before I—." Mark Sloan stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met that of the petite brunette woman standing beside his best friend. He took a moment to collect himself before he put on his signature smile and made his way over to the woman. "I'm Mark Sloan, and it would be more than my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Callie rolled her eyes at Mark's antics, but before she could call him off, Lexie blushed up at the handsome man and held out her hand. "I'm Lexie. Lexie Grey."

"Well Lexie, you are absolutely gorgeous." The man met Lexie's smile with his own, finding the woman's blush made her more attractive than she already was.

Neither Callie nor Arizona had time to crack even the smallest joke at Mark's expense because the rest of the party soon showed up. Cristina and Meredith made their way into Callie's apartment—with Owen and Derek, respectively, in tow.

"Hey, guys! I'm glad you could make it. I'll introduce everyone really quick. Arizona and Lexie, these are my friends and coworkers. You both have met Mark and Cristina. This is Meredith Grey and her boyfriend, Derek Shepherd. And finally, this is Cristina's boyfriend, Owen Hunt. Guys, this is Arizona Robbins and her best friend and coworker, Lexie Grey."

Everyone greeted one another and mingled for the next little while as they settled into the living room to get the party started.

Callie brought most of the snacks and alcohol into the living room so nobody had to go back and forth. "So, what have you got planned for us, Sloan?"

"Oh shit, Cal. You're letting Mark decide what we're doing? Don't you remember what happened last time?" Derek wasn't aware that the festivities were being hosted by his childhood best friend.

"Okay look, everyone had the opportunity to say no when I suggested strip poker the last time. Did anyone object? I think not." Mark smiled at the memory.

"He promised he would behave this time, Derek. He was really excited about hosting." Callie did give Mark a lecture about the strip poker incident. She was concerned about the fact that Arizona and Lexie didn't know how crazy the group got when they were together, and she didn't want to scare the two women away.

"Yeah, so lay off. I put a lot of work into this, so nobody gets to bitch about it." Mark started taking supplies out of the bag her brought inside earlier.

"This should be good." Cristina saw white boards coming out of Mark's bag and had no idea what the night was going to hold. As long as the tequila was flowing, however, she was in.

The rest of the group looked around nervously as Mark finished unpacking the bag and rubbed his hands together in excitement as he began to address the group. "I'm calling this the _Not So Newlywed Game_."

"Seriously Mark? What the hell is that supposed to be?" That sounded incredibly dumb to Cristina.

"It's a game to see which couple knows the most about each other." Mark thought it would be fun since most everyone had a significant other now.

"Mark. We aren't even a couple." Callie gestured to herself and Arizona incredulously. "They both been dating for over a couple years already."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Cal, you may as well be married at this point. Suck it up."

His comment earned him a piece of popcorn to the forehead. "Anyway, everyone will get a tiny whiteboard and a marker. I'll as you a question and you will write the answer on the whiteboard that you think your partner would give in response to the question." He thought for a second before adding, "For example Meredith, if I were to ask, 'What is your partner's favorite sport?'—you would say?"

"I don't know? The one with the bat?" Meredith knew nothing about sports. She drowned it out when he talked about them most of the time.

Derek put his head in his hands. "Come on, Mer. You should know this!"

"Derek's favorite sport is golf, or fishing if you count that as a sport. How in the world did you not know that?" The two of them had watched golf tournaments growing up together, and the two of them still went to the roof of the hospital to drive a few balls from time to time. Derek spent most of his off days on the water, fishing whenever he can.

"I don't know, Mark. Maybe you should date Derek instead of me." Meredith said, following an exasperated sigh.

"I can see that this is going to be a fun night." Cristina deadpanned as she threw back a shot of tequila.

"Who are you playing with, Mark?" Arizona was curious since there were only two couples and then whatever she and Callie were.

"The beautiful Lexie and I are going to be co-hosts. I'll ask the questions and she will check the responses. I have 25 questions total, and there's a chance for two points per question. One for each partner." With a wiggle of his eyebrows, he continued, "The couple with the most points at the end wins and gets a prize that will be decided at a later date. I ran out of time and didn't get to go pick anything up. But it'll be good!"

"How are we going to know whether our answers match what our partner would say, though?" Callie was nervous about playing this game if she was being honest with herself. Knowing Sloan, there would be very personal questions in the game. She and Arizona were still getting to know one another, and even though she felt like she had known her for years rather than weeks, she didn't want anything to scare her off. She had lost too many people throughout the years to risk something that seemed to be going so smoothly.

Arizona watched Callie as she was deeply lost in thought. She wanted the brunette to know that she was there for her, so she placed her hand on top of her thigh for comfort. She was met with a small smile from the Latina, who placed her hand on top of the blondes.

"Because I'm about to send you and the guys into your bedroom to answer my sheet of questions with your respective names on the top away from these ladies, while they stay in here and fill out their own sheets for themselves." Mark was proud of himself for coming up with what seemed to be a well thought out game. "Now, if you're all done interrogating me, it's my turn. Here are the sheets, go ahead and fill them out."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

About ten minutes later everyone made their way back into the living room, sheets of paper in hand. They were all handed to Lexie as they returned to their seats and got ready for the festivities to begin.

"So, are you guys ready to play?" Mark was excited to see how this went. He hoped there would be lots of storytelling tonight once answers began revealing themselves.

"Yeah!" Everyone yelled in unison as they raised their glasses in cheers, before taking a swig of their drinks and placing them back on the coffee table.

"Okay, Derek, Owen, and Callie—you guys sit on the left side of the living room, and Meredith, Cristina, and Arizona sit across from your partner on the right side of the living room." Mark began sifting through his pile of questions while his friends maneuvered themselves around the room as requested. Once everyone was settled, the game began. "Question #1: where did you and your partner meet and how?" Everyone began writing on their white boards, most with smiles on their faces as they did so. "Okay Meredith, you're up first. What would Derek say?"

Meredith flipped her white board around to face the room. "We met at Joe's. I was just a girl in a bar, and he was just a guy in a bar." Meredith smiled as Derek nodded.

Mark pointed at Derek to flip his board, and revealed the same answer and elaborated just a bit. "We met at Joe's. She wanted me to be a one night stand, but quickly discovered she couldn't get rid of me that easily when she found out I was an attending at her new hospital internship." Derek laughed at the memory of Meredith kicking him out of her mother's old house the morning after. The one that they share a room in together now.

"Lex?"

"Both correct. Two points."

Mark flipped his own board around to face the room and was met with a chorus of groans as he put two tally marks under the team name "Merder" on the left side of the board followed by two columns designated "Crowen" and "Calzona".

"Merder? Seriously, Sloan?" Meredith hated conjoined names. She saw them in magazines all the time with every newly married famous couple. It was too cutesy for her taste.

"Look, I didn't want to write everyone's name out because I'm lazy so I combined everyone's first names. I told you before we started that nobody could bitch."

"Merder is better than Crowen. That is gross, Sloan." Cristina felt the same way about the nickname as Meredith did. She wasn't a relationship, rainbows, and butterflies kind of girl.

"I kind of like it." Owen thought it suited them in a way.

Cristina shook her head at her boyfriend. "Only you would."

"Okay, Yang. It's your turn." Mark remembered the night Cristina met Owen very vividly.

"Inside the hospital ER. I was on call that night when he strolled in." Cristina will never forget the night she met Owen. He was wearing a full military uniform and saved someone in the street by traching him with a ball point pen. The guy lived.

"Owen?"

"Inside the hospital ER. She thought my pen trach was hot." Owen said with a smirk.

Cristina scoffed.

"You trached someone with a pen?" Arizona was floored.

"I was a trauma surgeon in the Army and did two tours in the desert. You learn to use what you've got to keep your guys alive."

"That's really impressive." Arizona wasn't expecting the topic to turn military, so she decided to stop asking questions.

Callie noticed the change in Arizona's demeanor as soon as it happened, remembering the photo from her salon of her brother clad in his Marine dress blues. She wondered if that had anything to do with her change in mood, but decided to ask her about it later. For now, she was going to do whatever she could to make her smile again.

"No, what's really impressive is that about thirty minutes after that, I was impaled with an icicle and survived," Cristina said matter-of-factly.

"I don't want to hear about that damn icicle again. You got into a fight with the chief about your plan of care while you were the patient." Meredith remembered that night vividly too. She and Cristina had gotten into a minor fight about her potentially moving in with Derek. She used the icicle injury to trap her into talking to her.

"Enough you two. Okay, Lex, what's the verdict?" Mark already knew they both were right.

"Both correct. Two points for Crowen." Lexie grinned at Mark.

"Please don't encourage him, Lexie. His head is already as big as his ego." Callie laughed.

"Arizona?" Mark said, his eyes not leaving Lexie as he asked and shot Callie the bird.

Arizona flipped her board with a shy smile. "My salon station where she came to get a haircut."

Callie smiled brightly back at her, flipping her own board around. "Her salon. I had to get a haircut since I was maimed by Cristina."

"I resent that!" Cristina said, feigning disbelief.

"It was shitty and you know it, Yang!" Callie said in between her chuckles.

"I never got a chance to thank you for fucking up her hair so badly she had to come and see me. It has definitely worked out in my favor." Arizona confessed to Cristina.

"You're welcome, blondie. I do what I can."

"Okay, Lex?" Mark had a lot of questions to get through.

"I don't even need to look at the sheets to know they're both right. Two points for Calzona."

"Okay guys, round one is tied. Two's all around. Question #2: what is your partner's favorite color?"

Callie giggled to herself. Not many people had probably had a complete discussion on favorite colors. She reminded herself to thank Arizona later for loving to play twenty questions; it looked like they were going to do well at this game after all.

"Meredith?" Sloan gestured to her board.

She slowly turned her board around and bit her lip. "Blue?"

"No? I know I've told you before that my favorite color is yellow." Derek couldn't believe Meredith missed such an easy question.

"Well shit Derek. Nobody's favorite color is yellow! Your favorite scrub cap is 95% blue and you love ferry boats, which are always surrounded by water. I don't know." Meredith didn't like this game very much. She needed more tequila.

"Derek?" Mark asked.

He flipped his board around and was met by a chorus of laughter. "Black."

"Just like my heart," Meredith added with a wink.

"One point for Merder on that round," Lexie added the tally mark under their column on the board.

"Okay, Cristina?"

"Camo?" Cristina scratched the back of her head. She didn't even know what Owen's favorite food was, let alone his favorite color.

"Seriously Cristina? Camo isn't even a color. It's a pattern."

"Well, you were in the army. I figured they forced you to say it was your favorite color."  
"My favorite color is green," Owen said pensively.

"GREEN IS LITERALLY IN CAMO!" Cristina shouted.

"You got it wrong, Yang. Move on." Mark snorted. He found Cristina's mistake amusing. He knew the woman loved to win, no matter what she was doing. She was the most competitive person he had ever met.

"Owen?"

Owen crossed his arms after flipping his board around, giving Derek a sideways glance. "Black."

Derek shook his head as Meredith and Cristina high-fived. "I would expect nothing less from these two."

"Alright, let's see if Callie and Arizona can get both points and secure the lead. Blondie? It's your turn."

Arizona smirked and flipped her board around with confidence. "Red."

Callie flipped her board without being prompted by Mark. "Blue."

"Lexie?"

"Both correct. Two points and the lead goes to Calzona." Lexie hoped the two of them would win.

"Question #3: What is the largest number of orgasms your partner—" Various complaints flew across the room before Mark could even finish his question.

"MARK" an outraged Callie protested.

"Sloan…" a sheepish looking Owen questioned.

"Fuck off Sloan." Cristina shot back.

"Come on. What are you guys? Ten? You aren't going to get cooties talking about sex. We're all adults here, so just let me finish the question, and then answer it." Mark countered.

"That question wasn't even on the list." Callie was not comfortable discussing the sex that she and Arizona literally JUST had the night before. She would like to keep her private life private.

"I know because I just thought of it. My game, my rules." Mark bit back with a grin. "Now, what is the largest number of orgasms your partner had on your most active day of sex?" He smirked seductively at the group. Things were about to get really good.

"Mer?"

"Three" Meredith got a nod from Derek when she flipped her board around. Questions about sex she could handle.

Derek didn't waste any time flipping his own board around. He was proud of the night that the number represented. "Five."

"Nice!" Mark told Derek as he gave him a high-five, earning eye rolls from all five women in the room. He then looked at Lexie and received thumbs up because both were correct.

"Cristina?"

"Four" Cristina was enjoying Owen blushing like a little girl and looking down at his lap as he nodded. He was such a shy man.

He then flipped his own board around revealing a six to the rest of the room, earning a punch on the shoulder from Sloan. "Impressive, Hunt!"

Owen's face turned an even darker shade of red, as Lexie gave yet another thumbs up to Mark.

Callie and Arizona were oblivious to Owen's embarrassment because they both were flashing back to the night before. The myriad of orgasms would be vividly burned into both of their minds for a very long time.

Arizona was broken out of her reverie by Mark. "Blondie?" he asked with a smirk.

Arizona was nervous to reveal the extent of their only sexual exploit to virtually all of Callie's friends but took a deep breath to steady herself and flipped her board around. "13."

The room grew silent, and everyone slowly turned towards Callie in sheer astonishment. Callie had a smug look on her face as she nodded slowly before revealing her own answer. "11."

The speechlessness persisted. Reactions ranged between completely stunned and ardent respect to even a touch of jealousy from the other three women in the room when Mark and Cristina broke the silence.

"Isn't 13 orgasms kind of excessive?" Yang challenged.

"I didn't know you and Blondie had it in you! Atta girl, Torres!" Mark was more than proud of his best friend and was so incredibly glad to see her as happy as she obviously was.

"Shut up, you two. Next question."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Two and a half hours and lots of laughter and alcohol later, Callie and Arizona, or Team "Calzona", as Mark dubbed them, had won the game by over 12 points. The group ended up enjoying the game so much that they all began coming up with their own questions and played until both the food and booze were gone. Two by two, couples left until Callie, Arizona, Mark, and Lexie were the only four remaining. Both pairs were lost in their own little worlds until Callie stifled a yawn.

"I'm so sorry Callie, are you tired? I should go." Lexie was worried she had lost track of time and outstayed her welcome.

"No Lexie, it's okay. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like. It's just been a crazy few weeks for me." Callie was more than ready to go to bed, but she didn't want their little night to end. It had been a blast.

"I should be getting home soon anyway, it's getting late, and I have to open up the salon at seven in the morning."

"I'll see you in the morning, Lex. Be safe okay?" Arizona hated leaving Lexie by herself, but she just couldn't stay away from Callie when she had the chance to be around her.

"Do you mind if I walk you down to your car and make sure you get there without any trouble?" It was after midnight, and Mark didn't like the thought of Lexie walking to the parking lot behind the building by herself.

"I'd really like that, actually. Thank you, Mark." Lexie gave him a shy smile.

Callie walked them both to the door, and as Arizona was talking to Lexie about work, she pulled Mark aside. "You be careful with her. She's Arizona's best friend." She loved Mark, and he was a softie at heart, but he loved sex with no strings attached, and she didn't want to see Lexie get hurt.

"I'll be good Cal. Scout's honor. I'm just walking her to her car." Mark raised his right hand.

"You weren't even a boy scout." Callie giggled.

"Maybe not, but I should've been, damn it." Mark faked a pout and crossed his arms.

"You are incorrigible, Sloan."

Mark pulled Callie in for a hug, "But you love me anyway, and don't you forget that."

"Maybe just a little bit. Bye Marky Mark."

"Bye Cal."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

After everyone had left, Callie and Arizona took all the bottles and dishes to the sink before making their way to the couch. There they cuddled closely together, Arizona's body slightly laying on top of Callie's as the brunette rubbed circles along her back. "Hey, Arizona?"

"Hmm?" Arizona hummed, nearly drifting off to sleep to the rhythm of Callie's heart beating below her ear.

"Will you stay with me tonight?"

The innocent and unsure way Callie asked Arizona that question caused her to sit up so that Callie could see her eyes as she spoke. "Of course, I'll stay tonight, Calliope. Why do you think I brought a bag? I wasn't intending on going home to a cold and empty bed when I can have a nice warm one with you in it."

"That sounds absolutely perfect to me. Are you ready for bed?" Callie wanted to cuddle with the blonde, but there wasn't enough room on the couch for them to get completely entangled with one another.

"Oh, I'm ready for bed, but I have a feeling that you won't be doing much sleeping tonight," Arizona whispered alluringly into Callie's ear.

The blonde's voice sent shivers down Callie's spine and caused heat to travel through her body instantaneously. "Oh really? And why is that?"

Arizona slowly inched herself off the couch and onto her feet, before she began backtracking to the bedroom. She pulled her t-shirt over her head. "You'll just have to come and find out for yourself," and disappeared into the bedroom.

Callie watched as the blonde's half-naked, delicate figure receded completely behind the opening of the door before shaking her head. _Arizona Robbins is going to be the death of you, Torres._

She got up, tossing her own shirt over her head and quickly turning off the lights in the living room. She left in such a hurry that she forgot to unplug the Christmas tree that had been decorated earlier in the evening—the tree's soft white light illuminated the entire apartment in a peaceful glow, similar to the way Callie's heart felt in that moment, as she made her way through the darkened doorway.


	8. Despacito

_**Authors Note**_ _: I am incredibly stoked about this chapter. This is the chapter from which the rest of the story originated. I had a dream of a particular scene that I wrote in this chapter. It was incredibly difficult translating it to writing, but I hope I did it justice. I wish everyone could just watch it the way it plays out in my head. I hope you all like it, and if not I will happily take suggestions of how to make it better. This is a long one, you guys. Enjoy!_

o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o• o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o• o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•

 **Chapter Eight: Despacito**

"Incoming trauma! All hands on deck." Owen Hunt placed the intercom speaker down on the desk of the ER as he slowly rubbed his hands across his face. He was the sole attending in charge of the ER this particular day, and from the way it looked, it was going to be a long one. "Torres, page Sloan. From the sound of the paramedic, you two will be working closely together today. Ambulance one is yours."

"Got it, Hunt." Very rarely did something come to the hospital that was complicated enough to require the best Seattle Grace had to offer in both the plastics and orthopedic department. She rarely got to spend time in the ER with her best friend, and honestly, she was afraid to ask why they would get to today. Not so fortunately, she wasn't even given the opportunity to wonder very long as she saw the breaking news report flashing on the television from the waiting room. There was a wreck on a major interstate involving an 18-wheeler and five or six smaller vehicles that didn't stand a chance. Four people died on scene, and the rest were being rushed to the local hospitals. Seattle Grace was proud of their level one trauma center, and would receive all critically injured patients more than likely.

About that time, Mark Sloan sprinted into the ER. "What do we have, Cal?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just know there was a bad car crash. Look at the news."

"Shit."

"Okay people," Owen's strong voice boomed. "Move all low-level injuries currently in the ER to a bed elsewhere or in the outpatient clinic to make room. I need all trauma bays open and all beds available. It's about to get really full, really fast."

Doctors and nurses began finding their way to their respective places, when another voice, more demanding than Owen's broke the bustling traffic. "You heard the man, move it!" Miranda Bailey's small frame began directing the sporadic traffic currently clogging up the ER as she dialed a number on the phone. "Chief. I need you to push all non-life threatening surgeries until later in the day. We need all OR's open for emergency surgeries once we get everyone cycled through. Yes, sir, all attending's should be on standby or in the ER. Nobody is dying on my watch today, sir."

As Bailey phoned the Chief, Mark and Callie were on the move. They secured each other's trauma gowns and gloves in preparation for the ambulance that was nearing the hospital. "Let's do this, Sloan." They ran outside and were met by a heavy rain and the opening of the ambulance doors. Callie was the first to speak, as she squinted at the paramedic through the rain. "What do we got?"

The gurney was pushed from the back of the vehicle as the paramedic began briefing both physicians on the status of their new patient. "Kathy Shaw, 26-year-old female with a 75% upper right arm amputation. BP was 90/57 in the field, and she was initially unresponsive. She was driving when an 18-wheeler lost control and t-boned her on the driver's side. The vehicle flipped multiple times, finally trapping her arm between car and pavement, shrapnel embedded. Pressure dressing applied, two large bore IV's started. Passenger was DOA."

As Mark began checking her pupils for reflexes, his arm was suddenly grabbed. "Please help me. I can't feel my arm and I need my arm. I am a single mom with two kids. I'm all they have, please. I have to be able to hold my babies."

As Mark looked over at Callie, she spoke. "Ms. Shaw, we will do everything we can, but I need you to relax right now okay? You've lost a lot of blood and we need to make sure you don't have any internal injuries before we look at that arm, but we're going to do the very best we can.

The three of them rushed into trauma bay two and Mark quickly removed the pressure dressing applied to the patient's arm in the field. An intern began taking her vitals while the two doctors asked questions about the accident as they looked at the nearly severed arm. "Ms. Shaw?" Mark began, "can you tell me what you remember?"

"It was raining. It always rains here. I was driving and then we got hit. I didn't even see anything coming. My best friend and I were both in the car but I don't know where she is. I woke up in the ambulance. Where's Elena? Is she here?" she began struggling to sit up.

"Please, ma'am," Callie worriedly said. "We need you to lay still so we can take care of you."

"I've got to find Elena. I've been begging her to visit for months and she finally did. We were heading to the space needle when we…please. You have to find her, I—" Her statement was interrupted by a loud gasp for air, before her blood pressure suddenly bottomed out.

"We need to get her to the OR, STAT! Start moving and I'll start compressions." Callie jumped on the gurney and straddled the woman at her waist to start CPR. While Mark wheeled them out of the trauma bay and towards the elevators in the back of the ER.

"Someone page Hunt and the interim cardiac attending! Tell them to meet us in OR 3 before she bleeds out!" Mark yelled nearly breathlessly as he quickly wheeled the woman onto the ER, hoping to get her there before it was too late.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

A few blocks over, having a much calmer day, was Arizona Robbins. She had just crossed off the appointments she had already completed for the day, and nobody else was scheduled to come in until after lunch. She had a little free time and normally would be talking to Callie, but right now she couldn't. She opened her phone for what felt like the tenth time that morning and read the text yet again.

 _Hey babe, big trauma coming in soon. All hands on deck. I'll talk when I can. Xoxo —C_

A few minutes after she had received the text, she pulled up the news on her cell phone to find a report about a bad six car pile-up on one of the main interstates in Seattle. She mentally berated herself for complaining about not being able to talk to Callie when many lives that had been turned upside down needed the Latina more than she did. Regardless of how much she wanted to talk to Callie, she knew that the beautiful talented woman was taking magnificent care of everyone she met and doing her very best to save their lives.

"You look like you're lost in thought. What's wrong boss?" Lexie had been watching Arizona from across the room and could see the concern and slight disappointment etched across her face.

Arizona smiled softly because she knew she'd been caught. "Nothing, I was just thinking about Calliope."

Lexie giggled. "What's new?"

Arizona blushed. "She's been busy today at the hospital and we haven't gotten to talk that much today."

"I can see how much you like her Zona."

"You know, nobody calls me that but you, Lexie." Arizona looked up at her childhood friend with a smirk.

"I know, I know. You've grown out of it, but old habits die hard." Lexie closed her eyes and smiled in thought. "We've been friends for as long as I can remember, Arizona. You've always been Zona to me because I had the worst time trying to say your name when I was four."

"I'll never forget that. You were so little when we met. Not many military brats can say their families went to every single duty station together." Arizona had known Lexie since she was almost nine years old. They had met when her family had been stationed in Washington, and a good friend of her dad's was planning on adopting her out of the foster system.

"That is true. Although, I think the Colonel had pretty much everything to do with that. I'm fairly sure he and my dad felt bad for me."

"They didn't feel bad for you Lex, they both just knew how much you thought of me and Tim, and just wanted you to have a stable life for once. You had gone to more than ten different foster homes before you even had your fifth birthday." Arizona was saddened at the memory of her best friend. Such a small, scared little girl when she and the Robbins met her, but the only time she had smiled was when she met Arizona and her brother.

"I know. I thank them for that because you guys became my family too." She smiled at the memory.

"Speaking of family, now that you're back in the Seattle area do you ever wonder about your birth parents? I know this is where you were born."

"You know, I hadn't thought too much about it until the party last night when I met Meredith. Just the fact that we're from Seattle and have the same last name… I don't know."

"I thought the same thing when I heard her last name too, Lex. I remember that your parents wanted you to keep your birth name because that will always be who you are." Arizona thought about it for a second and put her hand on Lexie's shoulder. "I'll ask Callie for you when I talk to her next about Meredith and see what I can find out for you."

"Speaking of Callie, you changed the subject on me. Don't think I didn't notice." Lexie challenged Arizona.

"Caught that, did you?"

"Of course, I did. I know that you like her a lot, and I know you well enough to know how much that probably scares you." She knew everything about Arizona. Lexie was the one she called when things went wrong and she needed someone to talk to.

"It terrifies me, Lex. I have never felt such an instant connection with someone, and it is literally the most terrifying thing."

Lexie saw the worry in Arizona's eyes. "Have you told Callie that?"

"No, but I decided last night that I needed to tell her, so I may tell her today."

"Okay, Arizona but—"

The blonde cut Lexie off before she could continue, "I'm not going to bolt, Lex. She needs to know how reserved I am, and she deserves to know why."

Lexie debated asking the question she had on her mind, and decided to just go for it. "So… you're going to tell her about Tim?"

"No. "Arizona said immediately, shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Not yet. I can barely talk about him with you and my parents. I'm not ready to tell Callie yet."

"Arizona, she needs to know."

"I know she does, and I will tell her eventually. I'll have to... I'm just not ready yet, Lex."

"Well, what are you going to tell her?"

"I'm just going to tell her about JoAnn. She's half of the reason why I am the way that I am."

"I think she'll appreciate that, and I'm sure she has her own skeletons, no matter how perfect she seems."

Arizona shook her head, blonde curls bouncing around her head. "She might, but I don't think there's anything in her closet that would cause me to think differently of her, honestly. She's the most amazing woman I've ever met. I mean have you ever met someone and after only a few hours feel like you have known them your entire life?"

Lexie blushed immediately, and averted her eyes from Arizona's gaze.

"Lexie. Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not."

"Lex. Yes you are. Tell me right now. Who is he and when the hell did you meet him? I saw you last night for Christ's sake at Callie's and then you went home." Arizona crossed her arms in front of her chest. Lexie told her everything, and there was something she was trying to hide right now.

"I…um didn't go home."

"Where did you go?"

Lexie sighed. "I went to Mark's."

"Woah, hold on. Back up. Mark. Mark Sloan? Like Callie's Mark Sloan?" Arizona stared at Lexie suspiciously.

"Yeah. We hit it off last night." Lexie closed her eyes before looking Arizona directly in the eyes and earnestly saying, "I really, really like him Zona."

Arizona quickly composed herself because she could tell how serious Lexie was, and wiped the startled look from her face. "Wow. Okay… so… did you guys...?"

Lexie's eyes widened when she realized what Arizona was insinuating. "OH! Oh my god no! You know I'm not that kind of girl. I had only known him for like six hours. Why would you even think that?"

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Lex, it's just that Callie had mentioned before that he was sweet as can be, but kind of a 'love them and leave them' kind of guy."

"I know. He told me that last night because he wanted to make sure I knew that he didn't invite me over for sex. He wanted to get to know me." Lexie bit her lip, trying to hide her enthusiasm, but couldn't as she gushed about her night like a high school freshman after her very first date. "We just talked, Zona. We talked all night. Neither of us went to sleep and this morning he drove me to the apartment so I could change before he drove me to work this morning. He is so sweet and oh so sexy."

"Holy shit, Lexie. He must really like you because that sounds out of character from what Callie has told me."

"Right?" Lexie's blush grew deeper. "And he asked me on a date Friday night. It all feels so surreal."

Arizona chuckled knowingly. "Trust me, I know exactly what you mean."

"Zona," Lexie looked at Arizona apprehensively. "Do you believe in soulmates?"

"I honestly never did until I met Callie, and that's why I think I'm so fearful. She's unlike anyone I've ever experienced…" Arizona drew in a heavy breath and smiled shakily at Lexie, her worry unmistakably visible. "Some things are just beyond explanation, Lex."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

"I need more suction over here." Owen Hunt was on lead until the woman became stable. She had massive internal bleeding from a ruptured spleen and liver that three doctors along with a full surgical team were working to stop.

"Lap pad, please." Mark had found the last of the bleeders and wanted to clear the surgical field before wielding the bovie to clot it. "Got it. Okay, Hunt, we're all good here if you need to go check on other patients."

"Alright, nice work everyone," Hunt said as he backed away from the surgical field and walked towards the scrub room before he moved on to the next emergency surgery.

"Okay, so, her BP is stable. Want me to construct a viable flap for this amputation?" Mark said.

"We're not amputating. We are going to save this arm because she's a single mother, and she needs both of her arms. Close up the abdomen incision and I'll take care of this arm."

Mark's eyebrows immediately shot up. "Can you do that? It's a pretty jagged cut, Cal."

She looked at Sloan blankly. "Did you really just ask me that? Seriously? I am a superstar. I've got this."

"Whatever you say, ortho goddess. I don't know why I even try." Mark stated with a chuckle.

Callie rolled her neck around, popping it in a few places before she stuck her hand out towards the scrub nurse assuredly. "10 blade, please."

The calm lull of the beeping heart monitor permeated the air in the OR while the two surgeons worked. Sloan operated to make sure the woman wasn't left with a horrendous scar across the length of her abdomen, while Callie worked to make sure she eventually had two functioning arms again. With the fast pace of the trauma, Callie was unable to start her surgery playlist, so the quiet was an unusual thing for her in the OR. She was about to make conversation with Mark, when she noticed him stifle another yawn from behind his surgical mask. "Why have you been yawning all morning Sloan?"

"For your information, I was up late last night."

Now she was curious. "Doing what?"

"Nothing, nosy ass."

Callie stopped her movements on the surgical table for a moment and narrowed her eyebrows at Mark before staring him down and calling him out. "You did something. I don't know what yet, but I sure as hell am going to find out."

"Fine." Mark steeled himself for the backlash that was sure to come. "When I went to walk Lexie down to her car after the party last night, we ended up talking in the hallway for a while and eventually just went back to my place."

"MARK! What did I tell you? That's Arizona's best friend." She had enough to worry about right now without Arizona cutting ties with her over their best friends. "Why can't you keep little Sloan in your pants? You're worse than a teenage boy."

"Hey! Lay off." Mark defended himself. "We didn't even do anything Cal."

"I'm sure you didn't. You just took her to your apartment after midnight to make tea and small talk." She knew Mark better than anyone else, and that did not sound like something he would do at all.

"It wasn't like that, I swear. I didn't want to sleep with her. I mean I do, eventually, just not like that. I really like this girl, Cal. Seriously. There's something about her that I can't explain… I feel drawn to her and I can't help it."

Callie considered the sincere eyes of her best friend before she shook her head skeptically, smiling at him from behind her mask. She knew exactly what that felt like, but had a hard time believing that Mark Sloan was content with having a heartfelt conversation that involved lots of clothing and very little alcohol. "So, you are telling me that you two didn't sleep together?"

"Not even close. We just talked all night. I took her to her place this morning and sat in my car while she changed inside. After she was done we stopped at a coffee shop to get breakfast before I dropped her off at work and came here." He looked Callie directly in the eyes before adding faintly, "I didn't even kiss her, Cal. I asked her out on a date this Friday."

Callie softened her expression. "Well, I'll be damned. Mark Sloan, I think you are growing up on me."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Shut up. What about you? You and Blondie seem to be getting pretty serious lately."

"One of these days your eyes are going to get stuck in the back of your skull from rolling your eyes at me all the time, you know." Callie laughed before sighing. "We have. It honestly petrifies me. Everything is going so well, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's too good to be true, and I don't know if I can take her leaving too Mark."

"You need to take a deep breath because you're getting way too far ahead of yourself, Cal. I don't think she's going anywhere just yet. And besides, if last night was any indication, she's just as crazy about you as you are about her. Everyone can tell."

"Is it ridiculous that I want to ask her to be my girlfriend?"

"No?" He looked at Callie like she was moronic. "Why would it?"

"I've known her less than a month, Mark. I haven't even told her about George, Erica, or even my parents."

"Well, then why don't you call her and have a long talk about all of that so you can stop freaking out?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, "And, once you've had that conversation then we can make an Arizona-worthy plan for you to pop the question."

"You make it sound like I'm proposing, Mark."

"Well, I'm sure when the time comes I'll be helping with that too, so I just consider this a warmup." He said with a wink.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

A few long hours later, Mark and Callie were scrubbing out of their surgery. Callie was able to fully repair the woman's arm and with lots of physical therapy she should gain full movement and control of her previously, nearly severed arm. "You put in good work today, Cal."

"So, did you Mark. I'm so glad we got to work together today. I miss scrubbing in with you."

"The feeling is mutual, Torres. I assure you."

"Well, I'm about to run. I've got to text Arizona and see if she has time for us to talk tonight. I decided it would be better to have this conversation in person, I'm just nervous that all this baggage is going to scare her away."

"Cal, it isn't baggage to the right person. And to answer your question from earlier? I think time is relative to the situation and not the person." Mark leaned back against the scrub sinks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think it's possible to know someone for two weeks and feel ten times more than what you felt for someone that you have known for two years. It's not a time thing, Cal. It's a soul thing—an energy thing." He turned to face Callie and held her on both sides of her shoulders so she could focus on what he was about to say. "She is good for you, Callie. I don't care if you've known her for two hours. I've seen the two of you together, everyone has, and I think the timing for asking her to be your girlfriend is perfect."

"Thanks, Mark." Callie released a breath she didn't even know she was holding in.

"Anytime, Cal. Listen, talk to her and when you're all done with girl talk give me a call. We can plan something special for her. Okay? And seriously, don't worry about Lexie. I'm really trying to get to know her, not get into bed with her. She's an incredible woman."

"Wow. You really are growing up."

He punched her in the shoulder with a laugh. "I already told you to shut up, I won't have you ruining my badass hospital reputation."

Callie made her way into the attending's lounge, grabbing her phone as she slumped onto the couch against the wall. She dialed a number that she now knew by heart, and waited patiently ring after ring, waiting for the beautiful blonde to answer.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

It was already after five and Arizona Robbins was exhausted. She knew that she absolutely had to get some sleep tonight if she could even attempt to complete her schedule for the next day. She had three, hour long massages, two facials, and an aromatherapy appointment all before noon, and she didn't even want to peek and see what the afternoon had in store. She had just laid her head in her hands and worked her way through a deep groan when her ringtone went off, causing her to jump. She recognized it immediately as Callie's and answered with a smile. "Callie."

"Hey, beautiful. How's your day going?"

"It's going well, even better now. I hope your surgeries all went well today, I know you must be exhausted." Arizona could feel her cheeks reddening as she talked to the Latina. Callie's voice did so many things to her that she had absolutely no control over.

"They did and I am, but we saved everyone that came through the hospital and that's all that matters."

"That's so good that you were able to save so many people today. I'm so proud of you!" Callie was incredible. She truly had a servant's heart and put others first.

"Thanks, babe. The reason I called you, actually, was because I was wondering if you have some time to spare this evening for an hour or so?"

"For you? Of course." The blonde said teasingly. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing, there's just some stuff I wanted us to talk about that we hadn't gotten a chance to yet.

Arizona's brows knit together. "Is everything okay, Calliope?"

"Yes, everything is fine. I just want us to have a little one on one time to talk if that's okay?"

"Okay, that sounds lovely to me. I'll be home around 7:30 if you want to just come over for a bit? I can order in for us?"

"That sounds great. I'll see you after I check a few post-ops and take a shower."

"I look forward to it. Bye Calliope."

"Bye Arizona."

It had been a long day, but the blonde was so excited to get her hands on Callie Torres in just a few short hours.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

A big smile made its way onto Arizona's face as she heard the doorbell to her apartment ring twice. She had looked forward to seeing a certain Latina ever since her phone rang earlier in the day. Arizona opened the door to find Callie, clad in her typical leather jacket, complete with full, shiny red lips that were curled into a smile and begging to be kissed. Arizona wasted no time, pulling Callie toward her by the lapels of her jacket so that plump lips met smaller pink ones. Their bodies melted into one another's, as they eagerly kissed on Arizona's front porch until she pulled away slowly.

"Mmm, Hi."

"Hello, yourself," Callie said with a chuckle and gestured to the box she held in her right hand. "I brought a pizza, that is now probably cold."

"Oh, I love cold pizza and you are my favorite person in the universe!" Arizona bounced on her heels. She loved pizza in any way, shape, or form.

"I better be, damn it." Callie joked with a wink.

Arizona ran to the kitchen, returning with a few bottles of water. The two women settled on the floor, legs crisscrossed, on each side of the coffee table. Callie opened the box of pizza in the middle of the table and they each took a slice, eating in silence a while before Arizona spoke. "So, what's on your mind, Calliope?"

Callie sat her half-eaten slice of pizza back in the box and took a deep breath. She knew there was no point in beating around the bush because the blonde woman could read her like a book. "I just really like you Arizona. I mean, I really, really like you. And that scares the shit out of me. I know I already told you that I don't want to screw anything up, so I think it's only fair that you know the pieces of my past that have caused me to fear relationships in general."

Arizona watched as Callie admitted her insecurity to Arizona. She looked so defeated, as she rubbed the sides of her arms and uncomfortably mentioned her past. Her normal confidence, shattered by memories of past hurt and anguish. It was all Arizona could do not to make her way around the table and engulf the brunette in a warm embrace. Instead, she did what she thought Callie needed most in that moment. Someone to listen, and really listen closely. "I like you a lot too, and it scares me just as much as I'm sure it scares you. I have my own reasons for being scared, and I will be happy to tell you those after you finish if you're comfortable."

"I'd like that a lot. I don't even know where to begin." Did she start with her parents? Her ex-husband? Maybe her first lesbian lover? _Jesus, my life sounds like a bad daytime soap opera._

"Just take your time, and start from the beginning. I've got all the time in the world Calliope."

Callie prepared herself. Once everything was said it could no longer be taken back. "Okay, well, first off…I've been married before. To a man."

Arizona nodded for Callie to continue, her expression not changing.

"His name was George and he was an intern at the hospital. We ran away to Vegas and got married. It was kind of ridiculous, honestly. Anyway, he ended up cheating on me with one of his fellow interns and we ended in divorce. He was the sweetest man I had ever known, so it broke my heart when he did that to me, abandoned me. Mark was there for me after that, and that's when we started becoming close. I was sad, and I ended up sleeping with Mark fairly regularly to make myself feel better."

"It's okay Calliope. So, you are bisexual and you and Mark have slept together?"

"Yeah, I am and we did." Callie looked down at her lap.

"Hey, I don't care that you've been married to a man and slept with another. It doesn't matter to me that you are bisexual. Neither of those things changes anything." It broke Arizona's heart that Callie was afraid, to be honest about who she was, and hoped she would discover why that was.

"Really?" Callie looked at her with wide eyes. "I promise I haven't slept with Mark in years. We don't have feelings for one another, we have just always been close and it just happened."

"Really, it's okay love. You don't have to explain yourself. Keep going if you want to."

"Okay, then we got a new cardiac attending a few years ago. Her name is Erica Hahn. We became friends and she started making subtle passes at me. I was terrified because I had never had feelings for a woman before that. We ended up falling into bed together and that's when I realized I liked women, or at least that woman. We started dating after that." Callie hadn't talked about the next part with anyone before so she was nervous. "She fought with me a lot, and kind of cut me down all the time about my sexuality and my friendship with Mark, but I never realized it because I thought I loved her. Then a little over a month and a half ago she won the Carter-Madison Grant. She broke up with me and told me that I was only good for sex among other things…she took away my fight, my confidence, and my self-worth. She left, and abandoned me like I was nothing, just like George did. Because of that, abandonment is my biggest fear."

"Oh, Calliope. I am so sorry." Arizona's blue eyes met the tear brimmed brown one's across the table.

"No, it's okay, really. Because two weeks after that, Cristina fucked my hair up and I met this perky blonde that I really like." Callie wiped the corners of her eyes and gave the blonde a small smile.

"No, it's not. You should never have had to deal with that, and I'm sorry she hurt you so badly. Is there anything else you are comfortable with telling me?"

"One last thing," Callie thought for a second. "Well, two, actually. My parents don't know, that I like women romantically. They're very conservative and both Catholic… and I'm sort of an heiress. My parents are very wealthy and I have had a trust fund ever since I was born."

"Wow." Callie Torres was far more multifaceted than Arizona even realized, but it didn't even come close to changing the way the blonde saw her. "That is a lot of information, but I want you to know that I still feel the very same about you Calliope. You're still the most beautiful woman, inside and out, that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. I don't care if you've dated men, aren't out, and are rich. You're still Calliope Torres, the doctor with a heart of gold that I really enjoy kissing." Arizona added with a giggle and a wink.

"Thank you, really."

"No need to thank me." Arizona stood up, reaching her hand towards Callie's and pulling her around the coffee table to lay across the couch with Arizona.

The two women tangled their limbs together, getting comfortable on the couch as they enjoyed each other's company.

"So, what about you, Arizona? What did you want to tell me?"

"My situation is actually like the one you told me about your ex," Arizona said mater of factly

Callie nodded for Arizona to continue.

Arizona rubbed circles along Callie's shoulder with her thumb as she spoke, "The only serious relationship I've ever been in was with one of my very close friends from high school. I had known I was gay since I was fourteen, and met JoAnn when we were stationed in California. We started dating my sophomore year of college, and dated for about four years."

"Wow. That's a long time. What happened?"

"She was very abusive, physically and emotionally. She broke my self-esteem down harshly too, and I became very dependent on her. She basically owned me, and I did everything and anything she wanted me to. She was smart enough to know that." Arizona was nearing the part of the story she wasn't ready to tell, so she decided to skirt around it as best she could. "Anyway, long story short, my first year of medical school I found out she was cheating on me with multiple women. I had an epiphany of sorts and broke it off with her. I had trust issues ever since then, so I had countless one night stands for years."

Callie rubbed her back to silently tell her it was okay.

After a few moments of silence, Arizona continued. "I just had lots of meaningless sex to fill a void that I didn't realize I had, until about two years ago when I just got tired of it and stopped. I hadn't even paid much attention to another woman after that until you walked into my salon a month ago and changed my world." She ended with a smile.

"Thank you for telling me that, Arizona."

"Of course. You deserved to know that you aren't the only one with a past that caused trust issues…and as hard as it is for me to trust people, I found myself effortlessly trusting you." Arizona said honestly.

"I trust you too, Arizona. I really do. I'm glad we got to have this talk."

"Me too."

They laid just like that—in silence for the next half hour. The two women not needing words to fill any void, because it was full by them just being together. After a while, Callie checked her watch. It was after ten, and as much as she wanted to stay, she knew that neither of them would get any sleep if she did. Both women had full days the next day, especially Arizona. "I better get going. I don't want to keep you up because you have a really busy day tomorrow."

"Please don't go. I want you to stay with me."

The innocent way Arizona spoke to Callie nearly made her heart melt. "As much as I want to, you know that we won't sleep if I stay, Arizona."

"Yes, we will, I promise we will sleep. I just want to cuddle with you, clothes on, no sex. I sleep better with you next to me." Arizona really wanted Callie to stay and would do anything to make sure that happened.

"No funny business?" Callie questioned.

"No funny business. I am too tired, really."

Callie looked down into a pair of ocean blue eyes and knew she would never be able to say no. "Okay, I'll stay."

Arizona stood up, pulling Callie up next to her and leading her towards her bedroom so that they could sleep. Callie smiled and followed the beautiful woman through the doorway, the blonde was completely oblivious to the fact that their relationship could drastically change for the better very soon.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie Torres eyed herself up and down as she spun around in front of the full-length mirror. Joe had set it up for her in one of the back rooms of his bar for the Latina to get ready for the night. She wore a deep red dress extending tastefully past mid-thigh. It had a plunging neckline and perfectly hugged all her curves. It was accented with red lace sleeves that traveled all the way down to each of her wrists. To top off her outfit, she wore tall, black heels. She had curled her shoulder length hair with a wand earlier that evening, so that it now bounced with loose, effortless curls all around her face. She smiled because it reminded her of Arizona's hair. She couldn't wait to see the blonde. The brunette then began thinking back to later in the day when she and her friends pieced the evening festivities together.

The pair's night from before was short-lived, as both women had to be up early for work the next day. Both women were too busy to talk for most of it, or at least Arizona thought they both were.

Later that day, while Arizona was in the midst of her busy schedule, Lexie had someone cover for her at the salon so that she could meet up with Callie and Mark at the hospital and they could devise the perfect plan. The trio came up with a wonderful idea and immediately called in a few favors with Joe and the rest of their friends to make it happen. Everyone was excited to be a part of the big event, as most of the group's friends had seen the way Callie and Arizona were around one another.

At around lunch, Callie completed phase one of the plan. She texted Arizona and told her that she would be at her apartment around seven so the the two of them could go to a karaoke party at Joe's. The blonde had sounded so excited about the night out, Callie almost felt bad about what she was going to do next.

At four, the brunette commenced phase two. She called Arizona saying that an emergency surgery had come in, and she wouldn't be able to make it until after the party had started. Callie suggested over the phone that they meet at the bar where she was now hiding from the woman the night was all about. The Latina could hear the disappointment in the blonde's voice after Callie told her they wouldn't be able to go together. She apologized profusely and promised her that she would be there as soon as she could. Lying to the blonde wasn't easy.

She informed her, lastly, that Joe's karaoke parties were a business-casual event that everyone normally dressed up for. She thought that the blonde should wear the pretty blue dress Callie had seen in her closet earlier that morning when Arizona was getting ready for work, executing phase three with perfection.

Now all the Latina needed to do was wait for Mark's text as a signal that phase four was accomplished: the blonde showing up to the bar and waiting on Callie to join her. After that, she would surprise the blonde and everyone else with phase five.

Callie braced herself on the edge of the sink and touched up her make-up. She had gone with a light smoky eye look, and finished with her favorite red lipstick to match her dress. The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was really about to do this for the blonde. Callie was about to face a personal fear that she had since she was little. The blonde was worth it. The Latina sent up a small prayer, one of both courage and hope. It was only momentary, however, as her phone vibrated. She opened her phone to a text from her best friend.

 _The butterfly has landed. I repeat, the butterfly has landed. Initiate phase five. –M_

She rolled her eyes at Mark. He told her earlier in the day he always dreamed of being in the secret service, and he felt like he was part of a top-secret mission. Regardless of Mark's playful antics, Callie knew what his message meant. It was now or never.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona made her way from the cool, Seattle night into the _Emerald City Bar._ The first thing she noticed was the makeshift stage that was taking up the area in the back of the bar where patrons normally played darts. The tables were all missing, aside from a few chairs on the sides of the room. She assumed they had arranged the bar for standing room so that people could dance if they wanted to. A man was making his way onto the stage as Arizona spotted Mark and Lexie at the bar.

"Hey, you guys. Mind if I hang out with you until Callie gets here?"

"Of course, I checked on her before I left the hospital for the night. She was still scrubbed into her surgery. I hate that she is going to miss part of this. Joe puts on a hell of a karaoke party." Mark could barely contain his excitement, but knew that if he let the cat out of the bag Callie would kill him. "The good news is, we will have lots of entertainment to keep us occupied until she gets here."

The blonde nodded at Mark with a smile, before someone from behind the bar tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Arizona, isn't it? Can I get you a drink?"

The blonde looked up at a man with dark hair spiked into a faux hawk. He had a very warm smile that reached his eyes, but she had no idea who he was. "Yes, I'm Arizona. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm sorry, my name is Walter. I am Joe's boyfriend. I always help him out on big nights like tonight, and he's told me a lot about you."

She remembered hearing a lot about Walter, and he was adorable. "Hi, Walter. It's very nice to meet you, and I would love a drink. May I have a Cosmopolitan, please?"

"Coming right up."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Arizona enjoyed her drink, mingled with her friends, and enjoyed karaoke for a while. After a few minutes, the man that had made his way to the stage when she had first walked in, belted the last line to "My Heart Will Go On," wildly off key. He then made his way off the stage to a loud applause, as Joe made his way to the microphone.

"How's everybody doing tonight?" His question was met with a chorus of yells and whistles. "Alright, I love the energy! I am pleased to announce that The _Emerald City Bar_ is in for a treat tonight ladies and gentlemen. This woman doesn't sing for us often, but when she does, it's almost like a Greek muse is among us."

Arizona was listening to Joe, when the back of her arm was lightly seized, causing her to jump. "What the fuck Mark?" She stated as he pulled her towards a barstool that had been positioned in the center of the room, directly in front of the stage.

"Trust me Blondie, you're not gonna want to miss this." He placed her on the stool and was gone as quickly as he had come.

The lights went out, causing the bar to be pitch black for a moment. Suddenly, spotlights lit up the stage to reveal a man situating himself on a barstool, identical to the one Arizona was sitting on, off to the right side of the stage. He was holding an instrument she had never seen before. It looked like a guitar but was much smaller and shaped differently. He began picking various chords for a moment, playing a beautiful Latin melody, as Joe continued to speak. "And now, without further ado, I am very pleased to welcome to the stage—singing a song dedicated to Arizona Robbins—our very own Callie Torres!"

Arizona couldn't breathe. She felt like the room was spinning as she saw her beautiful, Latin lover sway her way onto the stage wearing a tight fitting red dress that made the blonde's mouth water. All Arizona could hear in that moment was a beautiful melody, the heavy beat of her own heart, and the click of Callie's tall black heels that accented tanned, muscular calves and thighs. The rest of the room seemed to disappear as the blue eyes locked onto dark brown ones. Arizona didn't think it could get any better, but boy was she wrong. Callie stepped onto center stage and began to sing. Arizona could've sworn she had died and gone to heaven.

 _Come and move that, in my direction._

 _So, thankful for that, it's such a blessing._

 _Turn every situation into heaven, yeah._

 _Oh, you are my sunrise on the darkest day,_

 _Got me feeling some kinda way,_

 _Make me wanna savor every moment slowly, slowly._

Callie never took her eyes off Arizona as she sang, and the blonde woman was completely transfixed on the brunette. Callie Torres was astonishing. Arizona had just decided there was no way that the woman could be any more beautiful, but she spoke entirely too soon. The music picked up, and the spot lights began flashing different colors, as Callie continued.

 _Tú, tú eres el imán y yo soy el metal,_

 _Me voy acercando y voy Armando el plan_

 _Sólo con pensarlo se acelera el pulso._

Arizona felt a scorching heat languidly making its way throughout her body at the sound of Callie singing in Spanish. It did wonders to her already in the bedroom, but here she was, surrounded in a room full of people, and all she wanted to do in that moment was rip the red dress from Callie's perfect body. She had lost herself in a daydream for a moment, missing a few lines of the song. The music began to slow as the lights stopped flashing for a moment, and Arizona never could have prepared herself for what she heard next.

 _Despacito._

The sound of Callie nearly moaning the word in the same tone as she had just a few nights ago, caused Arizona to involuntarily moan herself. The music began picking back up, as everyone around her erupted into song, clapping along to the beat of the music, and flooding the dance floor behind her. Callie was clapping one of her hands along the side of her hip as she made her way down the stairs of the small stage, and danced her way towards Arizona, smile never leaving her full lips.

Arizona couldn't help but smile at the sight of Callie having the time of her life in front of her reaching her hand out towards Arizona. She took it and began dancing a fast-paced salsa with the Latina. They were moving nearly as one, the beat of the music and the beat of their own hearts guiding them in an unbelievable rhythm. The brunette's bright smile was contagious to all those in the bar—the alluring sound of Callie's voice along with the infectious beat of the Latin music began bringing people in from the streets of Seattle. Joe began passing out free shots as the crowd doubled in size and the brunette continued to sing. The Latina let go of Arizona's hand for a moment and threw her hands up in the air, as she accented the next line with two rapid sways of her hips to the rhythm of the music.

 _Sabes que tu corazón conmigo te hace_

 _Bang-bang!_

The crowd surrounding the two women could feel the adrenaline just as they could, and prepared themselves for the next line. She grabbed Arizona's hand once again, pointing the microphone into the air, silently asking the crowd to sing along with her as she swayed her hips and everyone raised their glasses—yelling along with her.

 _Sabes que esa beba está buscando de mi_

 _Bang-bang!_

Callie began doing a solo salsa in front of Arizona as the crowd cheered. All Arizona could do was give her the biggest dimpled smile she could muster as she watched the magnificent woman before her.

 _Pasito a Pasito, suave_ _suavecito_ _  
__Nos_ _vamos_ _pegando, poquito a poquito_

Callie wiggled her eyebrows and licked her lips, slowly running her hand down the length of Arizona's arm as she sang. She placed her hand on the blonde's chest and began slowly walking her backwards, the spotlight following her the entire way. She continued pushing her slowly backwards until the back of her legs met the rough wood of the barstool. Brown eyes shifted towards the seat, beckoning the blonde woman to sit once again. She did so, and Callie began dancing around the chair, putting on quite the show for Arizona.

 _Despacito_

 _This is how we do it down in Mexico_

Callie sent a wink towards Arizona as she continued dancing around the chair the blonde was seated upon

 _I just wanna hear you screaming, "¡Ay, Bendito!"_  
I can move forever cuando esté contigo  
¡Bailalo! 

The entire crowd began dancing around them, as Callie continued her dance around Arizona like she was the only person in the world. Arizona couldn't take her eyes off Callie, the way the Latina's body moved was hypnotizing to the blonde woman. She was only broken out of her trance by the slowing of the music once again. The hair stood up on the back of Arizona's neck as Callie moved closer and closer until her tanned body was flush with the blonde's own. Goosebumps rose in a trail where Arizona could feel the brunette's breath along the side of her neck as she slowly grinded her body into the blonde's side. She whispered loud enough for only Arizona to hear, as the man playing the instrument ended on a loud note and the crowd cheered.

 _Despacito._

The crowd continued their cheering and the mystery man continued playing what Arizona learned was a Puerto Rican instrument called a cuatro, as several people began making their way to the center of the room to slow dance to the beautiful melody.

Callie pulled Arizona into her arms and embraced her, laughing nervously in the blonde's ear.

"So, what did you think of the song, love?"

"What did I think, Calliope?" Arizona closed her eyes and calmed her raging libido as best as she could before she spoke. "I think you should take me somewhere very private before the night is over, because I want a replay of everything that just happened. Except it will be just the two of us, and as gorgeous as this dress is… I'd rather you be naked and singing that song into my ear in bed."

"I think that can be arranged, beautiful." Callie said with a wink before she pulled Arizona in for a kiss. When she pulled back she added, "as long as you'll answer a question for me."

"What's that, babe?"

Callie took a deep breath and smiled as she looked deep into those shimmering blue eyes. "Arizona Robbins, will you be my girlfriend?"

Arizona's eyes widened as she broke out into a tremendous dimpled smile and nearly squealed, jumping into Callie's arms. "Yes! Yes, Calliope yes I will be your girlfriend!"

Callie spun them around and kissed Arizona on the lips before taking her by the hand and leading her towards the bar where their friends were awaiting anxiously. "She said yes! Thank you all so much for helping me plan this."

Everyone cheered a chorus of 'hooray's' and 'you're welcomes' as they raised their glasses in a celebratory shot. "Congrats Torres!" Mark said as he pulled Lexie in closer to him. "Go dance with your lady, you see us all the time."

The two made their way back to the dance floor as their friends watched them from the bar, smiling because they knew how happy the two women were.

"I'm glad I got to be a part of this," Joe said from behind the bar.

"Me too," echoed Walter.

"Me three," Lexie declared.

"We all are," Derek added with a smile and raised his glass of scotch.

"If those two aren't meant to be together, then true love doesn't exist." Mark stated intently. "They've sure got something special."

Even from far away, everyone could see it as they danced with one another. The way they smiled brightly, the way Callie threw her head back in laughter with reckless abandon when Arizona whispered something into her ear, the way they never stopped dancing in the middle of the bar for the rest of the night, and the way they acted like no one else existed and there weren't a crowd of people watching them dance. They were wasted, though not from any type of booze. No, they were unmistakably drunk on one another… drunk on love. It was obvious. The way they moved together like they had done it their entire life, the way they caught each other sneaking glimpses even though both knew the other was looking too. The way they curled into each other with a restlessness that was deeply hidden behind an even more profound excitement. Even from far away, you could see it. Everyone could. They took each other's breath away. Everyone could see it. The only people they saw in the bar were undeniably one another, and they found each other purely intoxicating.

o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o• o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o• o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•

 **Author's Note #2:** _Also, just for funsies, try playing the song while you're reading the party scene... It really gets you pumped up and in the right mindset for the mood that's being created. I tried to match up the timing with the song, although depending on your reading speed it may not match up._


	9. Cleaning This Gun

_**Authors Note**_ _: LONG TIME NO SEE! I want to sincerely apologize for my ridiculously long absence… nursing school was kicking my ass year before last, and I also met a girl and went through a bit of shit with that! Even so, since I saw y'all last, I graduated from college with my nursing degree, got a new job—in Australia of all places—and recently moved there! So, with everything going on and trying to piece my life back together here, I decided I was finally in a good place to begin my writing once again! I will be finishing this story (eventually I promise_ _) and won't abandon it or y'all... just please be patient with me! I've had the storyline written out long before I stopped writing, so I'll be picking up right where I left off. I hope y'all are still willing to come on the journey with me—let's hit it._

o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o

 **Chapter Nine: Cleaning this Gun**

The smell of bacon frying in a cast iron pan surrounds Callie Torres' apartment on a chilly December morning. She smiled to herself as she heard the water begin running in her shower, knowing that meant her girlfriend, Arizona, was beginning to get ready for her day.

 _My girlfriend. Holy shit, I can't believe she's actually my girlfriend._

She smiled even bigger when she thought about the night before. She had actually gotten on stage at Joe's, in front of a particularly busy crowd of people, and sang. It had been years since she had done that in front of anyone. On one hand, she couldn't believe she had actually done it, but on the other hand, she knew in her heart that she would do anything for the beautiful blonde woman—that thought alone scared her more than she wanted to admit. Callie was broken out of her thoughts by the shrill ring of a cell phone coming from her bedroom.

Callie quickly took the bacon off the stove and ran into her bedroom, where the ringing got louder. She then realized it was Arizona's phone and knocked on the bathroom door before sticking her head in and yelling, "Babe! Your phone is ringing."

"Can you answer it, Calliope? It's probably Lexie!"

The brunette assumed Arizona was right and picked up the phone without looking. She was greeted by an unfamiliar, chirpy voice.

"Hello, my beautiful butterfly! I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

Callie stopped dead in her tracks and quickly removed the phone from her ear to view the caller ID—realizing she was on the phone with Arizona's mother. She stared at the phone for a few moments, hearing a few muffled 'Hello's?' coming from the phone in her hand.

 _SAY SOMETHING! Literally, say anything._

"Hi, um, Arizona can't come to the phone right now, can I please take a message?" For the life of her, the Latina couldn't figure out why she was so nervous, but her palms were getting sweaty.

"Well, hello. I'm Barbara Robbins, Arizona's mother. May I ask with whom I'm speaking?"

"My name is Callie. I'm Arizona's—," Callie cut herself off before she said anything further. They had just become girlfriends, and the brunette figured that Arizona probably didn't get a chance to relay the news to her family regarding her or the situation just yet, "Um, friend. I'm Arizona's friend."

"AHA! I knew something was up. A mother always knows."

 _Shit. Nice going Callie._

Before Callie could dig herself in any deeper, she noticed the frame of her girlfriend coming from the bathroom. She was relieved for only a moment before her breath hitched a little—nearly causing her to drop the phone that was currently in her hand. Arizona had glided from the bathroom with only her hair wrapped up in a towel; the steam from the bathroom following as her body was bare and glistening with water droplets. "Fuck."

Before Callie's brain could even attempt to catch up to her body's involuntary reaction, the amused voice of Mrs. Robbins broke her out of her trance. "I'm sorry, dear? What was that?"

 _Oh my god. I did not just say that out loud…_

Callie's eyes widened as Arizona giggled before lightly removing the phone from the brunette's hand, kissing her on the cheek and whispering, "I've got this love, go finish breakfast and I'll be there in just a minute."

Arizona watched her girlfriend's hips naturally sway on her way out of the bedroom and bit her lip before remembering that her mother was still on the phone. "Hi, Mom."

"Who is she? I want to know everything about her. When do your father and I get to meet her? Is she your girlfriend? Why haven't you said anything to me about it? Oh, my stars, wait! What's her last name? I can look her up on the Facebook!"

"Mom, breathe! And by the way, it's just Facebook, not THE Facebook, and I'm not giving you her last name so you can stalk her before you even meet her." Arizona laughed at her mother's rapid-fire questioning. "Slow down, slow down. One question at a time. Her name is Callie. She's this miraculous, breathtakingly stunning woman that I recently met. Oh! And last night, she asked me to be her girlfriend." The blonde smiled before continuing—that's the first time she has said that out loud. "I'm not sure when—"

"So, she is your girlfriend! Really? Butterfly, we have to meet her!"

The blonde woman smiled; she really did miss her mother. It had been far too long since she had seen her. "Yes mom, girlfriend. I really like her, and she's very special." The thought of Callie making her smile even bigger.

"What about this weekend? Please? Your father has a four day and we could all spend a bit of time together before Christmas. We miss you, Arizona, and we would really like to meet this Callie of yours."

Arizona's heart sunk a little bit at that—she had been so wrapped up in her business that she really hadn't taken the time to call, let alone visit her parents. She really would like to see them and introduce them to Callie. She wanted everyone to meet the Latina that had changed her world the past few weeks. "That actually sounds like a wonderful idea, Mom. I'll have to talk to Callie though, she may not be able to get off work on such short notice."

"I understand, baby. What does she do?"

"She's a doctor—a surgeon, actually. That's why it may be difficult to just up and go this weekend, but we will talk today, and I'll let you know very soon."

"You sound really happy, butterfly. We can't wait to meet her."

Arizona grinned. "She makes me very happy mom, and I can't wait for you both to meet her. I'll call you later?"

"I will look forward to it sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye, Mom."

Arizona threw her phone back on the bed before rummaging around a drawer—well, her _unofficial_ drawer at Callie's apartment. She grabbed a pair of underwear and then searched through the brunette's drawers until she found her favorite oversized shirt of Callie's—a faded, orange one with 'University of Miami' scripted on the front. Once she slipped it over her head, she unraveled her hair from the towel and tousled it between her fingers as she walked out of the room.

She was met by the smell of French toast, eggs, and bacon as she made her way into the kitchen—Callie having just finished pouring two cups of piping hot hazelnut coffee. Arizona walked up behind her, wrapping both arms around the Latina's waist and leaning into her.

Callie smiled when she felt the familiar embrace of her lover and spun around to face her. Before she could say anything—Arizona leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Mmm," Callie hummed with a smile, "what was that for?"

"Can I not just kiss my girlfriend whenever I want?"

Callie giggled. "Kiss away." The brunette let out a small moan when the blonde's lips met hers once again, only this time she gently parted the woman's lips with her own. She began running her tongue along Arizona's bottom lip and lightly biting it. She felt the woman's grip tighten at her advances and pulled back. "Breakfast is getting cold, love."

"Ugh. Fine. Food first, sex later."

The brunette couldn't contain her laughter, "You're insatiable, Arizona."

"Only for you, Calliope." The smaller woman said with a wink.

The two women fell into a comfortable silence at the kitchen bar, enjoying the company of one another, as well as the breakfast Callie had made for them when the brunette broke the silence.

"So…about your mom?"

"'Fuck'?" Arizona playfully impersonated Callie from earlier; barely able to stifle her chuckle.

"HEY! That's not funny." Callie deadpanned. "I didn't mean to say that out loud… my brain completely forgot the fact I was on the phone with your mom the second I saw you walk out of that bathroom. What did you expect? You literally had water dripping off your naked body—honestly, we're both lucky I didn't say worse."

"You still made a good impression, babe." Arizona smiled big enough for both dimples to pop before adding, "As a matter of fact, she asked if we could come to visit this weekend. Do you think you may be able to take a four day?"

Callie thought it over for a second. "I don't have any scheduled surgeries off the top of my head, but since it's Wednesday already, I'll still have to ask the chief and make sure one of the other ortho surgeons can be on call."

"That's fine, love. Just ask him when you head into work." Arizona stood up and kissed Callie on the forehead, gathering their dishes to put in the dishwasher. "I'm off today, so I'm going to head home in a bit to clean up and pack. I'll probably go regardless…it's been a while since I've been to see my parents, and I'd really like to see them in general. Although a trip across the country with you would be really fun."

"That sounds like a plan. I know you've already taken your shower this morning, but I thought you might want to jump in with me before you go?" As she spoke, those tanned fingers lifted the hem of her shirt up and over her head with one swift movement. She turned and walked, hips begging Arizona to follow. She stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and turned around, "It's up to you of course, but I could always use a little help washing my back." She added with a wink.

Arizona stood up and walked towards the Latina, slowly pushing her backward by her chest onto the bed. "Oh, I'll help, because we will both definitely need a shower after this."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

Callie awoke in a startle as the wheels of the plane touched down on the tarmac. She was immediately met by the smirk of a very amused blonde.

"Doing okay there, sleeping beauty?" Arizona said as she quirked her head to the side.

The brunette smiled and started to speak —before the realization hit her. They had just landed in Quantico, Virginia, where she would be meeting Arizona's parents today. Luckily for her, it had been a slow week for her surgical schedule as far as appointments were concerned. She had a fellow orthopedic attending that owed her a favor and had decided to take him up on it in order to secure the four-day weekend with Arizona. She had been nothing but excited for a little get away with her girlfriend up until they landed, but now that the reality of it all sank in—she was just nervous.

The blonde sensed a change in the Latina's body language and knew exactly what was bothering her. "Calliope, they're going to love you. Will you please stop worrying?"

Callie was unimpressed with the blonde as she began removing their carry-ons from the overhead bins. "They are your parents, Arizona. This is a big deal to me. Especially considering I already said 'fuck' on the phone with your mom, and your dad just happens to be a freakin' Marine!"

"She thought that was funny!" The blonde giggled when she only received a deadpan look from her girlfriend before they stepped off the plane and into the jet bridge. "All Dad will probably do is give you his little 'don't hurt my daughter' speech while he's cleaning one of his guns—but you'll be fine! It's just a scare tactic."

"He has GUNS?! Like, plural?!" Callie's eyebrows flew to the top of her forehead as she stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the airport terminal.

"Oh my god. Babe." The blonde couldn't suppress her laughter any longer. "First of all—I am about 100% sure that it is frowned upon to scream anything about guns in the middle of an airport. And second of all—you literally just got through saying he's a freakin' Marine. Of course, he has guns."

After Callie rolled her eyes at the blonde for good measure, the two women retrieved their luggage from baggage claim and began wheeling them towards the exit. When they made their way through the automatic doors, they were met with an excited scream.

"BUTTERFLY!"

Callie took in the sight before her and couldn't help but smile. There, in the pickup lane was a black, Ford truck. Standing in front of the truck were Arizona's parents—Callie could tell. She first noticed Arizona's dad. He wore a light blue button up dress shirt with a pair of ironed khaki pants. He didn't have a hair out of place and if she didn't know he was in the military before, it would be a dead giveaway now as he stood completely straight, staring what felt like daggers through Callie. She stiffened before taking a deep breath to steady herself, ready for anything. She then carried her gaze to a middle-aged woman that was unmistakably Arizona's mother—instantly relaxing. She was a little shorter than Arizona herself and she had the same curls, only they were beginning to slightly gray with age. When she smiled, she knew immediately where the Robbins' dimples came from, and she had a presence that made Callie feel loved. At the present moment, she was bouncing up and down while holding a sign that said, "Welcome home, Butterfly (and Callie )". It warmed her heart so much to see Arizona's beaming smile as she ran towards her mother.

"Mom! It's so good to see you!" The blonde said as she squeezed her mother tight.

Tears ran down Mama Robbins face as she held Arizona close before she pulled her back. She held the blonde's face in her hands as she gave her a once over. "Just let me look at you, baby! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever! First things first—we will all go home, and I will cook a big supper for you both." With that, Barbara looked a few feet behind Arizona where Callie was waiting patiently—not wanting to ruin their moment. "And you must be Callie?"

"Yes ma'am, I am. It's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Robbins." Callie said politely.

"Oh, now dear, you can call me Barb! And I give hugs." The shorter woman stated as she pulled Callie into one of the warmest and most comforting hugs she had ever received. "It is nice to finally meet the woman who has made my butterfly so happy.

Callie smiled, thankful that she was making Arizona happy. She made a mental note to ask Arizona why her family calls her butterfly. It suited her and it made a bit more sense as to the reasoning behind the butterflies all over _Tease_.

While Callie and Barbara were talking, Arizona made her way over to her dad. "Colonel." Arizona nodded. Greeting her father with a big smile.

"Butterfly." He nodded back; serious expression unchanging for a moment until he let out a small smile and wrapped his arms around his youngest. "It's so good to see you, baby. We sure have missed you."

"Well then!" An excited Barbara said as she pulled Callie along with her luggage towards the truck. "Let's get home so I can start cooking!"

Arizona laughed as Callie ended up in the backseat with her mother, brown eyes wide and questioning as she passed Arizona, not even having a chance to introduce herself to Arizona's father. This was going to be an interesting weekend; she could already tell.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The drive to the Robbins' house was very peaceful for Callie. Most of the trip took place along the riverside of the Potomac and the view was breathtaking. In some ways, it reminded Callie of her past in Miami. Even in the winters there, being near the water was always one of the few things that made her feel at peace when home got a bit too much. She wondered how different Arizona's childhood was to hers; she wondered whether constantly moving brought them closer together, or if with all of the traveling her father did, they grew apart as she and her family had.

She was broken out of her thoughts as they made it to the house. It was what she imagined the quintessential American family home would be. It was a white two-story house with light blue rocking chairs on a porch that seemed to wrap all the way around; there were beautiful, barn wood shutters that looked to be homemade. It had a cobblestone walkway leading to the stairs that were lined with rows of white and yellow daisies. A bright and beautiful American flag was lightly blowing in the breeze from where it was fastened on one of the front columns, and you could hear the sound of the river current rushing softly in the background.

Arizona opened the car door for Callie, earning a chaste kiss from the brunette before they both went to get the suitcases from the bed of the Colonel's truck. The blonde let the tailgate down before she felt Callie's hands on her own.

"Go ahead inside to help your mom, babe. I've got these." She said with a smile.

Arizona smiled up at her girlfriend, giving her another quick kiss before she went inside, knowing her mother would be ecstatic to have her in the kitchen to help like she did when she was growing up.

Callie lightly removed both suitcases from the bed of the truck, sitting them on the ground for a moment before readying herself to carry them up to the stairs and onto the porch. Before she could lift them, she heard a gruff cough from the front of the house. The Colonel was standing there, waiting.

"Let me help you with those, young lady."

"Thank you, Colonel Robbins, sir. I appreciate the help." Callie smiled softly up at the man. She had seen him silently watching her exchange with Arizona a few moments before and knew she was being sized up, but she kept her composure—remembering what Arizona said. He just wanted to make sure Callie could handle herself, so that's just what she was going to do.

The pair then made their way inside, where there was already a chorus of pots and pans being shuffled around the stovetop, getting ready to prepare a meal. Callie helped Colonel Robbins move the luggage by the bottom of the staircase and was just about to ask where he'd like her to take them when he spoke.

"Miss Torres, you'll be in the guest room." He began wheeling her suitcase down the hallway. "It's just through here, second door on your left."

"Thank you, sir, but please, call me—" the brunette was cut off abruptly before she could finish her sentence.

"What do you mean guest room?" Arizona popped out from the kitchen wearing a red and white checkered apron that Callie would most definitely have commented on if she had been wearing it anywhere else. "My room is big enough for both of us."

"You know the rules, Arizona," The Colonel chastised as he began making his way into the den. "No sleeping in the same bed unless you're married. It's no different now than when you were sixteen."

"Dad. That is ridiculous! I am a grown woman and I would like to share a room with my girlfriend." Arizona stated adamantly.

"Arizona, it's okay. The guest room will be perfectly fine for me." The brunette said with a smile. She was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't get to snuggle with Arizona that night, but she wanted to be respectful of her father's wishes.

Arizona crossed her arms and pouted, "It may be perfectly fine for you, but I don't like it. I wanted to cuddle."

"You're really hurting your 'I'm a grown woman' defense with your lip sticking out that far, baby." Callie teased.

"Well, if I were sleeping in bed with you tonight—I could prove just how grown I am, now couldn't I?" taunted the blonde.

Callie's breath hitched at the blonde's insinuation for a moment. She could feel her face instantaneously growing a deep shade of red before a voice broke through the tension, making the brunette contemplate actually walking all the way back to Seattle out of embarrassment.

"Butterfly, I really didn't need to know that." Barbara rounded the corner sporting a red and white checkered apron that matched the one Arizona was wearing. She was carrying a wooden spoon that was now pointing back and forth between the two women. "And I'd say that is why your father has that rule in the first place, don't you think?" she added with a smirk and made her way back into the kitchen.

"Arizona!" Callie said, lowering her voice after Mrs. Robbins left so only the blonde could hear her. She could only shake her head at her girlfriend that was smiling sheepishly and retreating back to the kitchen.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

While Arizona was making dinner with her mother, Callie decided to go to her room and freshen up a bit before they ate. She originally planned to ask whether the pair needed help cooking but ultimately decided against it so that they could spend a bit of one on one time together. The brunette slowly made her way through the house to the guest room she would be staying in for the night, taking everything in around her. This house was so different to everything she had experienced growing up; it was like from the moment she walked in, she felt as though she was at home. Everything about it made her feel safe. In the den, there were throw pillows on a couch that looked like it had been well worn with time. Next to it sat a recliner she assumed was the Colonel's. There was a large case she noticed in the corner that had lots of medals surrounding an American flag. It was inside of a framed black shadow box that was in the shape of a triangle. There were lots of framed family photos and quotes scattered along the walls. Callie decided that Mrs. Robbins must love plants because there were displays of beautiful flowers in various spaces in the den.

As she made her way through the cased opening that separated the den from the hallway, something on the trim caught her eye because it didn't match. The wood on the left side was a lighter shade of white than the rest of the opening—it seemed to be more faded and weathered with time. It stuck out a bit more than it should, almost like it had been added on after the opening was actually built. She knelt down to run her hand along the wood when she saw why, smiling lightly as she took the memories in for herself. _Arizona, Age 2_ was the first thing she saw on the left-hand side of the trim, written in pink marker; it had a small line next to it to show how tall she had been that year. Just a touch above that along the right side of the trim, she saw _Timothy, Age 2_ with a similar line in green to show how tall he had been. She followed it upward, running her hand along their names. They grew further apart in height as they grew in age, both charts stopping when the kids had reached 18 years old. It was such a beautiful testament to how tight-knit the family was. They had moved around throughout their entire childhood, and this piece of wood had always gone with them. It spoke volumes about Arizona's family, and Callie teared up a little bit at the thought behind it. The children had moved to so many places while the Colonel was shuffled from duty station to duty station—but every house felt like home because of the family inside of it; because of things like this growth chart. Familiar things to ground them.

Callie continued through the cased opening into the hallway where she saw more family photos lining the walls. There were a few that she could tell were school photos of a younger Arizona and there were a few of a blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy with matching dimples, that she knew had to be Arizona's brother, Tim. As she walked onward there were many photos of them together, a few happy occasions like high school graduations and a few of Tim in his Marine dress blues. They all made her smile, but mostly they made her want to know a little bit more about Tim. She made a mental note to ask about him sometime soon, along with the butterfly thing.

"Nearly identical, weren't they?" Barbara's voice startled Callie as she had become engrossed in the pictures along the wall. She sounded a bit sad as she spoke, so Callie just decided to listen. "When they were growing up, everyone that met them thought they were twins because they were so inseparable. Since we moved so much, they were closer to one another than other children their age. You would hardly know that there were three years between them in age." Barbara recalled with a small smile.

"They do look identical—it honestly took me by surprise when I saw. I love seeing photos of her so little; along with seeing things like that growth chart. Getting to look into Arizona's past is so special to me." Callie told Arizona's mother honestly. She wanted to know everything about the blonde—she just couldn't get enough. However, she decided to tread lightly about Tim with Barbara since there was obviously something involving him that nobody wanted to speak about openly.

Barbara's face lit up, "If you like those, you will love the albums I have stored in the back. I'd be happy to get them out for us to look through after dinner."

Callie smiled right back at the smaller woman, "I would absolutely love that, Barb. I'm going to go freshen up a bit before dinner is ready, and I'll see you in just a bit."

And with that, the brunette left Barbara alone with the photos in the hallway. As she made her way into the guest room, she felt a little calmer. Arizona's mother seemed to like her so far, and Callie was looking forward to learning a bit more about her bubbly blonde's past.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The Latina was mostly dressed when she heard a small knock on the door.

"Calliope?" Arizona's voice came through. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, love," Callie responded sweetly. She was glad Arizona came back here and not her mother, because she wanted the blonde's approval on the dress she decided to put on for dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple maroon sundress, but she packed it specifically for this occasion. She wanted to be wearing something a little nicer than ripped jeans and a leather jacket for her first meal with the Robbins' family, even if it was freezing outside.

"Fuck, Callie." Arizona looks adoringly at the brunette. "I really don't understand how someone can be so beautiful."

She blushes as Arizona walks up to her, resting her arms lightly behind her neck. "I could say the exact same thing about you, you know," Callie states honestly.

"Yeah, you could, but we're talking about you right now," She pauses to place a light kiss on Callie's lips, "and I could go on all day about how beautiful I think you are, but we would be very late for the dinner that Mom and I have just finished cooking—she absolutely adores you, by the way." The blonde places one more quick kiss on the brunette's lips before she separates herself and pulls the Latina by the hand towards the kitchen.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

A few hours, a delicious, home-cooked meal, and lots of laughs later—Colonel Robbins had retired to his office. He said he had to finish up on some things for work and wanted to leave the ladies alone to chat for a little while. The three women at the table were currently each enjoying a cup of coffee and a slice of pound cake that Mama Robbins had whipped up the day before the girls had flown in. Mama Robbins' idea to take a lighthearted stroll down memory lane had been well received by everyone, except for Arizona that is. They were presently in the middle of opening the fourth photo album of the night, much to Arizona's dismay.

"Mom! No." Arizona groaned at her mother, who was beaming with pride. "I could deal with the Halloween photos from when I was four and even the naked baby pictures just fine—but I am putting my foot down at my girlfriend seeing the frizzy-haired, braces-clad, pre-discovering contacts disaster that was middle school. She doesn't want to see that!"

"Oh yes, she does! Please lead the way, Barbara." Callie laughed. She was enjoying the hell out of seeing all the photos of Arizona. Her mother had shown her lots of albums already—but the picture she had just found of an awkward, adolescent middle school Arizona wearing a tacky Christmas sweater and sitting on Santa's lap was her favorite so far. "Oh my god, this is adorable."

"Oh! that was one of the best years! She was so mad at me because she didn't want a picture with Santa—she was apparently too cool for it that year and said that she was 'about to be a 9th grader, and nobody in the 9th grade would be caught dead sitting on Santa's lap'."

"I still can't believe you made me do that, Mom. I'm fairly sure I tried to burn that sweater when we got home that day." Arizona jokingly rolled her eyes at her mother. Barbara Robbins loved nothing more than embarrassing her children, that's something that hadn't changed too much over the years apparently.

"I thought that was a perfect sweater for you that year! I bought it after you finally told your father and me that you were gay." Barbara said, smiling proudly.

"Wait, wait, I can't tell what it says from this picture. What did it say?" Callie excitedly questioned Mrs. Robbins.

"Mom. Don't you dare even think about—" Arizona began before her mother interrupted her

"It said 'Single and ready to Jingle!'."

"MOM!"

"Oh my god, that is the most fantastic thing I have ever heard in my life!" Callie's cheeks were actually sore from smiling as she kissed a very embarrassed Arizona on the cheek.

"What, baby? It was true! And it was all in good fun.," Barbara began. "Speaking of Christmas, what do you two have planned?"

The pair looked at one another—they hadn't actually talked about their Christmas plans yet. Arizona wasn't sure if Callie had wanted to spend Christmas with her or if she was planning on going to see her own family for the holidays. They eyed each other for another moment or two before Callie spoke. "Well, we haven't actually talked about it yet, but I'm not scheduled for Christmas this year—I'm just on call. The doctors that I work with and I normally go to the bar across the street from the hospital the night of Christmas so that everyone can get together to have a few drinks and exchange gifts. It's a bit of a tradition since none of us ever get to go all the way home for Christmas—and I was hoping that Arizona would want to be a part of it this year." The brunette turned back to smile at her girlfriend.

"I'd love to, Calliope." Arizona leaned in to give Callie a kiss, before intertwining their fingers and laying her head against her shoulder.

Mrs. Robbins looked at the pair with a knowing smile, before continuing to flip through the old photo albums. Her smile slowly changed as she turned to the page, it was still there but with an overwhelming twinge of sadness surrounding it. "Look, butterfly. This is my favorite picture that I have of you and Timmy."

Callie felt Arizona's entire body stiffen. There was a palpable tension that quickly filled the room, and Callie couldn't figure out why. She looked at the photo and noticed it was a smaller copy of her favorite one from the hallway. It had what looked to be a 15-year-old Arizona wrapped around what would've been an 18-year-old Tim's back. He was pulling on one of two French braids that came down to Arizona's shoulders while she had him playfully pulled into the beginnings of a chokehold. His hair was sticking up everywhere from being tousled and they were laughing so hard that both had their dimples shining. It was a beautiful candid shot that showed just how close and playful the pair were.

"Yeah, I remember that," Arizona said very quietly, and almost stoically. "That was the day before he had to leave for basic training." The only sound that was made after that was the soft sound of Arizona lightly bouncing her leg, before she stood up abruptly, startling both her mother and Callie. "I'm going to go get some fresh air."

Just like that, she had made her way outside. Callie was immediately worried about her and was about to stand up and follow her when she felt a hand cover her own on the table. She looked down at Barbara, as she calmly shook her head no. "Leave her be for a few minutes, and let her gather her thoughts, sweetheart. None of us have been the same since Timmy died, but Arizona took it the hardest."

"She hasn't talked to me about it at all, so I don't know what I need to do for her. I want to help however I can." Callie stated—worry beginning to grow within her.

"She hasn't ever talked about it very much, dear, but I promise she will tell you when she is ready." Barbara looked at Callie very seriously, almost like she was deciding whether or not she should say something before she spoke. "Just so you know, Callie, as I said before, none of us have been the same since Timmy died—especially Arizona. I have been worried for years that I had lost her; that she would never be the same carefree little girl I've always known…but these past few weeks, every time I've spoken to her, I could tell something was different, even through the phone. It is almost like my old butterfly is back, and I think that has a lot to do with you. I know you say you want to help, and that you don't know what to do for her, but you are helping, more than you know—whether you realize it or not."

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

"Arizona?" Callie called out to the porch gently.

"I'm over here," Arizona said from the back of the house, where the porch wrapped around. She was sitting on a porch swing that looked out at the river, lost in thought.

"Are you okay, baby?" Callie began, hoping that Arizona might open up to her a little bit.

"I'll be okay, I just really don't want to talk about it right now." The blonde stated evenly, letting Callie know there was no room to argue with her about it.

"That's fine, love. We can just sit and enjoy the view for a while." Callie sat beside Arizona on the porch swing, wrapping her arm around her and pulling her into her shoulder as she placed a blanket across both of their legs. They sat like that for a while in silence, listening to the water move and the sound of each other's breathing until the brunette remembered that she had a question. "Hey, babe? Why do your parents call you butterfly?"

Arizona stiffened in response to Callie's question. She knew that it was undoubtedly going to come up because that's virtually all her parents call her, but there was no way she could tell that story right now. She didn't know what to say to Callie, because it should've been a simple question. It was just a nickname after all. "I don't want to talk about that either."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Callie said carefully, not knowing how lightly she needed to tread with the blonde.

"Nothing, Callie. Please. Just sit here with me or go back inside." The blonde said bluntly.

Callie winced a bit at the blonde's tone but wanted to make sure she knew that she would be here if she wanted to listen. "Arizona, you know that you can tell me anything, don't you? I'm here for you."

"Callie, please, just drop it. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just wanted you to know that—"

"I told you to drop it. That's the end of it. Okay?"

"Okay," Callie said, not wanting to push Arizona any further. The blonde had never spoken to her that way before, and as much as she didn't want to take it personally, it gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

The two sat there, silently swinging back and forth for a little over an hour. Nobody speaking of what had happened earlier. Callie could feel the stress radiating from Arizona and knew that whatever she was holding onto was eating at her in some way. Callie knew she was in pain, and all she wanted to do was make it stop. The Latina looked down at the blonde's face when she felt her breathing change just slightly. She noticed a single tear began to fall lightly across Arizona's cheek before she took a deep breath.

"I promise I will tell you, Callie. I just can't tonight."

Callie just squeezed the blonde a little bit tighter, kissing the top of her head, and letting the blonde know that it was okay.

 **o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•o•**

The rest of the night had gone by slowly. Callie had finally gotten Arizona to come inside so that she could make her way upstairs for a hot shower and a good night's sleep. Arizona was leaning over the stair rail while Callie was on the ground below her, neither wanting to say goodnight.

"Thank you, for putting up with me tonight, Calliope," Arizona said, softly. She was embarrassed about the way she spoke to Callie, but she just can't talk about Tim. She can barely look at photos of him; even after all this time. She had been so excited to introduce Callie to her parents that she hadn't thought about the memories being home would dredge up. She knew she wasn't handling it very well, but denial had worked for her thus far.

"I never put up with you, Arizona. I care about you so much, and it is more than okay to tell me that you need time for certain things. Just never forget that I'm here for you, okay? No matter what." The brunette looked up at her, nothing but seriousness laced throughout her tone. She leaned up as the blonde leaned down, and they shared a goodnight kiss. "Please, get some sleep. I've got my phone—so I can text you until you fall asleep if you don't want to be alone."

"Okay." Arizona smiled at the beautiful, selfless woman below her. She doesn't know what on earth she did to deserve her, but she wanted to make sure she didn't do anything to mess it up, that was for sure. "Sweet dreams, Calliope."

"Sweet dreams, baby."

With that, the blonde made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. The brunette stood there a minute, trying to gather her thoughts after all of the night's festivities before she started to move through the hallway to the guest bedroom once again. She had just passed by the first door when she heard a hushed voice coming from inside it. The door was cracked, and a small amount of light was glowing through it.

"Miss Torres?"

"Yes, sir?" Callie answered; slowly opening the door and making her way into the room. There sat Colonel Robbins at a very large oak desk; he was wiping what looked to be the barrel of a small handgun with a light blue microfiber cloth when he gestured for her to take a seat in a chair at the front of his desk.

As she made her way inside, she looked around the room—it was filled with so many patriotic things. There was both an American and a Marine flag standing at attention behind Colonel Robbins, as well as multiple cases filled with medals and awards for valor. The walls were lined with framed newspaper articles and photographs of award ceremonies. The first thing she noticed was that they weren't all about him. Most of them were about his son, Tim, but the one that caught her eye was an old article from _The New York Times_ titled " _2_ _nd_ _Lt. Robbins of USMC laid to rest; sacrificed life for brothers in arms_ ". She got closer to it to see the date, which read _December 10, 1941._ Callie knew that the article was written about his funeral—three days after he had died, a hero, at Pearl Harbor. He had saved nineteen of his men on the U.S.S. Arizona—sacrificing himself in the process. It was the story of where Arizona's name originated—she could never forget. Her grandfather, her father, and her brother—they risked their own lives numerous times for their country, and she had an unprecedented level of respect for them all.

Colonel Robbins watched Callie carefully as she made her way through the room, he saw her take in the room gently, methodically even—until she came to rest on the article he knew to be about his own father. If it caught her eye, it was because Arizona had told her the story. He knew then just how much this woman meant to his daughter. She trusted Callie, so he knew that he needed to talk to her. He waited until the woman turned around before he began, gesturing once again for the chair in front of him as he spoke.

"Everything I have ever done in my entire life has been about honoring my father's sacrifice. I raised both of my children to be good men in a storm. I raised them to love their country—but to love their family even more. I raised them to protect those they love most over anything else." Colonel Robbins stated evenly, still polishing his pistol.

Callie nodded and sat silently in front of Colonel Robbins, hanging onto every word.

"When my daughter was 15 years old, she sat in the same chair you are sitting in right now. I could tell she was nervous about something and had been crying. Her brother had left for basic training earlier that same day and I had expected it to be about him leaving, but that wasn't why she had come into my office. She sat there, very obviously terrified, before she took a deep breath. She stood before me, not only her father, but a Colonel in the United States Marine Corp, and said, 'I am a lesbian,' even though she knew there was a chance that everything would come crashing down." He put the gun down on the table and looked Callie directly in the eyes. "She stood in front of me, and faced her biggest fear, because she wanted to show the same kind of honesty and bravery her brother had earlier that day, in her own way. I have never been prouder of my daughter than at that moment because she was exactly who I raised her to be. She is strong, and caring, and honorable—she's as stubborn as her mother and as brave and fearless as my father. She always tries to do the right thing because she has a big heart—just like her brother did. She is a good man in a storm. I love my daughter, Miss Torres. And I protect the things that I love. Not that I need to a lot of the time, she hardly needs it. Because she is exactly who I raised her to be." He spoke softly, emotion flooding his tone.

"If I may, sir—your daughter… she is the most remarkable woman I have ever had the privilege of meeting. She _is_ strong, and caring, and honorable. She has a heart of pure gold and shows it to everyone she meets. I consider myself lucky every day to be around her, to be able to be there for her." Callie paused quickly, regaining her composure, as the man in front of her nodded for her to continue. "She saw me at a moment in my life when I couldn't even see myself, sir. Meeting her was like finding the rainbow after that storm. Look, I'm honestly not very good at this and I know you don't know me, Colonel Robbins, but one thing you will quickly learn about me is that I protect the things that I love, too. She is the most important of those things, and I will be here as long as she will have me. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure she doesn't get hurt; you have my word." Callie took a deep breath before she paused. She backtracked everything she just said and realized she had told Arizona's dad that she loved her. _Holy shit. I love her. That's terrifying. Perfect timing for this revelation, Torres._

"Thank you." Colonel Robbins said, nodding again at the brunette in front of him, realizing the gravity of her words. "She is special, Miss Torres, and she deserves someone that will treat her as such."

Callie smiled, thinking about the curly headed blonde probably fast asleep upstairs. "She is special, Colonel Robbins. And I intend to make sure she knows every single day, just how much," the brunette began, reaching her hand towards the man in front of her, "also, please—call me Callie."

The man looked at the woman once more, a small smile adorning his features, before taking her hand and shaking it slowly. "It has been a pleasure meeting you today, Callie. Please—call me Daniel."


End file.
